A joint investigation between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other law enforcement groups led to a Missouri man being charged with three counts of child exploitation, according to a Wednesday statement from HSI.
A federal grand jury in Springfield, Missouri, indicted Harold Lloyd Blair Jr. on two counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography, the statement reads.
Harold Lloyd Blair, Jr. (Ava), previously indicted for producing child pornography, now faces additional charges that include victimizing a second child. https://t.co/4luHtIVtsK @HSIKansasCity https://t.co/drcWwql8qN
— U.S. Attorney WDMO (@USAO_WDMO) February 28, 2023
Blair was initially indicted Dec. 6, 2022, on one count of using a minor to produce child pornography, according to the press release. The agency’s investigation later found enough evidence for the jury to include two additional counts.
The probe into Blair began Dec. 2, when workers called the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department after finding child porn in a filing cabinet inside a residence that formerly belonged to him, according to HSI.
The first charge against Blair accuses the 66-year-old of using a minor to make child porn between Dec. 24, 2010, and Dec. 23, 2014, the press release continued. Blair allegedly used a second child victim to produce the sexual media from Oct. 17, 2013, to Oct. 16, 2014, according to HSI.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force and the West Plains Police Department joined HSI in the investigation as part of Project Safe Childhood. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan is prosecuting Blair’s case, according to HSI. (RELATED: Teacher Under Investigation After Allegedly Taping 10-Year-Old Student To Chair)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) founded Project Safe Childhood in 2006 to “combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” according to HSI. The United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section run the nationwide initiative. Project Safe Childhood works to “locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims,” according to the statement.