United States of America v. David S. Becker

St. Louis, Missouri, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with receiving and distributing child pornography and attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.

In August, jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis found Becker guilty of one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor and one count of possession of child pornography. Trial evidence and testimony showed that Becker began corresponding with a person on a nudist website. That person claimed to be the mother of an 11-year-old girl in France. Becker and the person discussed having sex with each other and the child. He also sent her an image of child sexual abuse material in October of 2022. Becker bought plane tickets for France and obtained an extended-stay visa, planning to travel there in June of 2023, evidence and testimony showed.

At the time, investigators were already working on a cyber tipline report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone uploading child sexual abuse material (CSAM). On May 22, 2023, investigators conducted a court-approved search of Becker’s home. Becker admitted planning the trip to France to meet the mother and her daughter. Investigators found CSAM on Becker’s electronic devices, as well as years of communications about Becker’s plans to sexually abuse the child, evidence and testimony showed.

After the trial, additional electronic devices were discovered that showed Becker corresponding with someone else who claimed to be the mother of a young girl, according to court testimony.

Judge Pitlyk told Becker near the end of Tuesday’s hearing that the evidence at trial showed both that he “fully intended” to sexually abuse a child in France and the danger he poses to the community.

The St. Louis County Police Dept. Special Investigations Unit, the FBI and the Maryland Heights Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jillian Anderson and Michael Hayes are prosecuting the case.

The Defendant, a former paramedic / firefighter from St. Louis County, was sentenced to 151 months in prison.