Palmyra man faces child porn charges

A Palmyra man faces federal receiving child pornography charges following his arrest Thursday.

According to Palmyra Police Chief Eddie Bogue, Stephen Lawrence, 69, was taken into custody following a months- long investigation by multiple agencies.

Lawrence was arrested on an active arrest warrant from the United States District Courts of Eastern Missouri for receiving child pornography and taken to St. Louis where he will be brought before a judge on the charges.

Assisting in the arrest and search warrant, were members of the Palmyra Police Department, Marion County Sheriffs Department, FBI and Missouri ICAC Task Force. 

Bogue said an investigation into possession of child pornography was started in April of this year by members of the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children’s Task Force.  

Through the course of the investigation, Bogue said, detectives were able to identify a subject in the 400 block of West Water Street.  

Detectives conducted an interview at the residence where they were granted consent to review some electronic devices used by the homeowner.  

A subsequent forensic examination of these devices located numerous files of child pornography as well as on several other devices which have been connected to these computers which contained file names commonly used for child pornography.

This month, a search warrant was conducted at the residence to look for any additional files of child pornography, and Lawrence was subsequently arrested.