Cole County prosecutors charged a Jefferson City man accused of possessing and promoting child sexual abuse materials following an investigation.
According to court documents, the Boone County Sheriff’s Officer Cyber Crimes Task Force got a cyber tip on July 5, 2023, from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
NCMEC got a complaint from Snapchat on May 28, 2023, that a user had uploaded a video showing child sexual abuse to their servers.
Investigators viewed the video and confirmed it was child sexual abuse.
Snapchat sent records of the username and IP address of where the video came from.
Investigators said on November 2, they got a court order and confirmed the user account and IP address belonged to Justin Loafman, 26, of Jefferson City.
On November 8, investigators served a search warrant at Loafman’s home and arrested him.
They said Loafman admitted to owning the Snapchat account and to sending child sexual abuse material to multiple Snapchat users.
Prosecutors charged Loafman with felony counts of Possession of Child Pornography and First-Degree Promoting Child Pornography.
He was taken to the Cole County Jail and held without bond.
An arraignment was scheduled for November 13.