SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Missouri man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child sex exploitation charges for allegedly contacting hundreds of children through a teen dating website.
Kody Ryan Kelso, 30, of Springfield, Missouri was using an online service named My LOL and allegedly contacted more than 560 children between Jan. 7 and Feb. 21 of this year. Investigators says he attempted to discuss sexual topics and request sexual images from children between the ages of 13-17.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri says Kelso was charged in a five-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield on Wednesday. He was caught by an undercover law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom that was posing as a 13-year-old girl, according to charging documents.
Investigators also received two Cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding Kelso’s online activity and posting a child pornography video online.
He was arrested on June 16 after law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Kelso’s apartment. Officers seized multiple electronic devices.
His five charges include multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a child to produce child pornography and using the internet and cell phone to induce a child under the age of 14 to engage in illicit sexual activity and he one count of receiving and distributing child pornography.
Kelso has been detained without bond since his arrest on June 16. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations.