A registered sex offender living in High Ridge is facing a new child pornography charge. Patrick Mayberry, 44, of High Ridge was charged on Dec. 8 with receipt and distribution of child pornography as a prior offender in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office reported.
The criminal complaint said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received information about a Google user allegedly uploading child sexual abuse material. The St. Louis County Police learned Mayberry was possibly selling child pornography that he obtained on the dark web, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office said.
If found guilty, Mayberry may be sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison and may have to pay a fine of up to $250,000, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
Court documents show Mayberry entered an Alford plea in December 2021 in Jefferson County for failing to register as a sex offender. At the time, his listed address was in Eufaula, Okla.
By entering an Alford plea, Mayberry did not admit guilt but agreed there was sufficient evidence to find him guilty of the offense.
Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert sentenced Mayberry to three years in prison. However, the sentence was suspended and Mayberry was placed on five years’ probation, according to court records.
His convictions in Oklahoma were for second-degree rape in 1999 and child pornography in 2008, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Mayberry also had listed addresses in Steele and Toledo, Ohio, before he started living in High Ridge, court documents show.
The recent child porn case was investigated by St. Louis County Police and the FBI.
Assistant U.S. attorney Jillian Anderson is handling the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, go to justice.gov/psc.
