St. Louis man admits moderating child porn chat room
ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in federal court on Wednesday and admitted acting as a moderator for a group chat that shared child sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said David K. Daues, 37, was sharing CSAM on the Kik messaging app and the Wire platform.
The investigation began after a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The account that was the subject of the tip was traced to Daues.
When interviewed by FBI agents, Daues admitted operating the account. He also confessed to moderating a group on the Wire platform where child pornography was regularly shared.
Daues said he began viewing the illicit material about four years earlier and that he was in approximately 25 Kik groups and four Wire groups sharing such material. Federal authorities said he also had images and videos of child porn on two cell phones.
Daues pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
Daues will be sentenced on Dec. 1. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
