A federal grand jury in Wichita returned an indictment charging a Kansas man with one count of sexual exploitation of a child/production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography following a Homeland Security Investigations probe.
Joel Cypert, 35, of Columbus, is accused of creating sexually explicit images of a prepubescent, minor victim.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Molly Gordon is prosecuting the case.
Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat child exploitation in your community on Twitter @HSIKansasCity.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States attorneys’ offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit justice.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit justice.gov/psc and click on the “Resources” tab.
Homeland Security Investigations
Homeland Security Investigations, commonly called HSI, is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
