Source: Office of United States Attorneys
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Raytown, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to using a minor victim to produce child pornography.
Cecil L. Pulluaim, 54, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs to two counts of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography.
By pleading guilty today, Pulluaim admitted that he used a minor victim to produce videos of child pornography on two occasions in April 2023. Pulluaim also admitted that he was in possession of additional child pornography on June 16, 2023. Pulluaim admitted that he used his cell phone to produce the child pornography.
On June 16, 2023, Raytown police officers searched Pulluaim’s residence and seized his iPhone. A forensic analysis of the phone found five sexually explicit videos of the child victim, taken on two different days. In addition to these five videos of child pornography, which Pulluaim specifically pleaded guilty to producing, investigators found a dozen additional videos and photos of child pornography that Pulluaim admitted he also produced of the child victim.
Under federal statutes, Pulluaim is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of 70 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna. It was investigated by the Raytown, Mo., Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service.
Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”