Dodge City Man Gets 10 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

WICHITA, KS—A Dodge City man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for sending child pornography to an undercover investigator, U.S. Barry Grissom said today.

Kenneth Wilhelm, 49, Dodge City, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of distributing child pornography and one count of sending obscene material to a minor.

During sentencing before U.S. District Judge Monti L. Belot, prosecutors said that in December 2009 Wilhelm began a Yahoo chat with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl named Ashley. In fact, he was communicating with an officer of the Lenexa Police Department. Wilhelm steered the discussion toward sex before sending his target child pornography and nude photos of himself. He invited Ashley to join a Yahoo Group called "slaveanddaddysgirls." On April 1, 2010, investigators served a search warrant at Wilhelm's home in Dodge City, where they seized computer equipment containing child pornography.

Grissom commended the Dodge City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for their work on the case.

This case was prosecuted under the Justice Department's Project Safe Childhood. For more information, see projectsafechildhood.gov.