Carl Junction Man Pleads Guilty to Transporting a Minor for Illegal Sexual Activity

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Carl Junction, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court today to transporting a Kansas minor across state lines to engage in criminal sexual activity.

Nathan Roger Belcher, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Belcher remains in federal custody until his sentencing hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

By pleading guilty today, Belcher admitted that he transported a child victim, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe 1” with a date of birth in 2003, from Kansas across the state line into Missouri. They engaged in criminal sexual activity on two occasions, once at a residence in Missouri and once near a creek outside Neosho, Missouri, in 2017.

Under federal statutes, Belcher is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the Columbus, Kan., Police Department, and the Cherokee County, Kan., Sheriff’s Department.