Todd Graves, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, and Eric F. Melgren, United States Attorney for the District of Kansas, announced that a former Platte City man has pleaded guilty in federal court to producing child pornography.
Andy M. Deuninck, 40, formerly of Platte City, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., to one count of an indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Nov. 14, 2002.
By pleading guilty, Graves said, Deuninck admitted that he took pornographic photos of a 4-year-old girl between Dec. 25, 1999 and March 7, 2000. Deuninck transported those images from Platte City to his office at the Munson Army Health Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he worked for Science Applications International Corporation. Deuninck loaded those images onto his work computer, Graves said, and on March 6, 2002, transmitted those images over the Internet from his work computer to a person in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Deuninck also admitted that between Oct. 1, 1999, and June 1, 2000, he transmitted over the Internet at least 20 images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct from his work computer in Leavenworth.
Some of those photos, Graves said, portrayed minors under the age of 12. Some of the images portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence.
Deuninck was taken into custody at the completion of the guilty plea hearing.
As a result of the guilty plea, Deuninck could be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to 20 years in prison, plus a fine up to $250,000. Deuninck’s sentence will be determined according to the United States Sentencing Guidelines.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katharine Fincham and David Ketchmark. It was investigated by the Platte City, Police Department, the Kansas City Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Brooklyn, New York Police Department.