A 29-year-old Desoto County man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for videoing his sexual assault of at least two minors.
U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock handed down the sentence to Joshua Chasestefan Anderson of Desoto who, according to court documents, made and kept these recordings on his cell phone. The videos were discovered by Southaven Police Detective William Boliek while investigating another sexual assault.
A distinctive physical trait on Anderson’s left hand made it possible to identify him as the perpetrator. He was charged with the sexual exploitation of minors and had pled guilty to these charges on an earlier occasion.
Additionally, Anderson will be required to register as a sex offender after his release and will be on supervised release for life.
“After choosing to victimize innocent children for his own warped sexual gratification, this defendant has earned every day of the 30-year sentence imposed in this case,” remarked U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “I truly appreciate the efforts of AUSA Parker King and Detective Boliek, and the removal of this individual from free society is an important step towards making our District a safer place.”
“Thanks to the excellent work done in this investigation and as a part of this prosecution, today’s sentencing has resulted in the removal of a sexual predator from the streets of our community,” said Southaven Police Chief Brent Vickers. “Although we cannot undo the harm caused to these victims, the Southaven Police Department will leave no stone unturned when it comes to investigating and holding accountable sexual offenders who choose to victimize minors and innocent citizens.”
The case was investigated by the Southaven Police Department.
According to a press release by the Northern District of Mississippi’s United States Attorney’s Office, Assistant U.S. Attorney Parker S. King prosecuted the case as part of the Project Safe Childhood initiative. Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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. The goal of Project Safe Childhood is to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.
