Zachary Hamby, 30, of Florissant has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of production of child pornography and two counts of attempted production of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
He encouraged his girlfriend, Heather McDorman of Barnhart, to take pornographic photos of the children for him, and she was sentenced in October to 24 years in prison, court records show.
Hamby pleaded guilty to the child pornography charges on Jan. 6. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Between Feb. 1, 2018, and March 12, 2018, Hamby directed McDorman to take pornographic photographs of children in restrooms at area malls and stores, in park bathrooms and in a church bathroom, according to court documents.
Police identified an 11-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl who McDorman took pictures of while they were using the bathroom. In addition, police identified a 4-year-old boy McDorman abused, photographed and videorecorded, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
On March 12, 2018, McDorman was arrested at the South County Mall, 100 South County Center Way, in south St. Louis County, after she took photos of the 11-year-old girl in a bathroom there. The child reported the incident to a St. Louis County Police officer, according to a plea agreement in the case.
When McDorman was arrested, St. Louis County Police found her with a fake police badge, and McDorman told police she was taking the pictures for her boyfriend, who she claimed was an undercover child abuse detective. She said she took the pictures to assist him in his investigation, the report said.
Police found photos on McDorman’s cell phone of girls using public bathrooms, and McDorman’s face was visible in some of them because of the high angle of the selfie-stick over the bathroom stall. There also were pictures of Hamby on the cell phone, the report said.
Authorities were familiar with Hamby because of a previous investigation in Oklahoma City, and police located him on March 12, 2018, at his home in Florissant and arrested him. At that time, he said he had told McDorman he was an undercover cop as part of a “role-playing” game, and McDorman bought fake badges for them, according to the report.
Hamby also admitted it was his idea to take the photos in bathroom stalls and was surprised when McDorman agreed to do it. Police said they found several pictures on Hamby’s cell phone of children in public bathrooms and “sample” pictures Hamby sent McDorman to show her what type of pictures he wanted her to capture, the report said.
Hamby told police that McDorman sent him at least seven pictures of children using public bathrooms. He also admitted to telling McDorman to carry a fake police badge while she took the pictures, the agreement said.
Hamby told police McDorman abused a 4-year-old boy and, at times, live streamed the abuse using FaceTime so he could watch.
On March 15, 2018, McDorman told police she knew Hamby was not a police officer but took pictures and produced videos of the children to stay with him, according to the report.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang handled the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case was investigated by St. Louis County Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.