West Plains, MO. – The West Plains Police Department recently put out a release of information on the criminal sentencing of a man who had been arrested in 2021 for the possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material.
On May 22, 2023, Gairry R. Bakken, age 53, was sentenced in United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, to serve 180 months (15 years) in Federal Prison for the Receipt and Distribution of child pornography.
In February 2021, the Southwest MO Cyber Crimes Task Force responded to a Cyber Tip from the Nat’l Center of Missing & Exploited Children after Facebook had observed files depicting child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on their servers. Investigators linked the Facebook account to Bakken at his residence in West Plains, MO.
In March 2021, a search warrant was served at Bakken’s residence, and items capable of storing digital evidence were seized as evidence. These items were later observed to contain files depicting CSAM as well. In a post-Miranda interview, Bakken admitted that he received files depicting CSAM on various social media applications.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie Wan. It was investigated by the Southwest MO Cyber Crimes Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the West Plains Police Department.
Advertisement
