Presson pleads guilty in federal child porn case, could face life imprisonment


Tracy “Todd” Presson

Editor’s note: Documents used to gather information for this story about Tracy Presson’s case are publicly available on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) website. Visit pacer.uscourts.gov to view the documents or find more information about the case.

 

Tracy “Todd” Presson, a 54-year-old Gainesville man who reportedly produced child pornography images and videos, mostly at his Gainesville home, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to coercing and enticing a teenage victim to engage in illicit sexual activity.

The plea was made as part of a plea agreement with a federal prosecutor. As part of the agreement, seven additional federal charges involved with child pornography production and sex abuse of children were dismissed.

 

Federal case

“I’m glad it’s over.  It was definitely a team effort,” said Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. Curtis Dobbs, who was scheduled to testify in Presson’s federal jury trial, set to begin Monday, July 13. Because Presson submitted a guilty plea, the trial was canceled. 

Due to sentencing guidelines, Presson will serve a sentence of at least 15 years in federal prison without parole. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. 

Although officers involved with the case say that dozens of children were involved, the federal case focused on two girls in particular, identified as 16-year-old Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 in federal court documents. The age for Jane Doe #2 was not listed in the documents. 

In addition to producing images and videos of the underage girls, Jane Doe #1 reportedly told Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Kyle Hannaford and a Missouri Division of Family Services investigator in an October 2018 interview that Presson often engaged in sexual conduct with her and photographed and videoed the sexual acts. She reportedly told the interviewers that she’d been abused for at least five years at that point, from the time she was 11 years old. Jane Doe #1 said the sexual activity happened at Presson’s home in Gainesville as well as across the country when she traveled with him, early court documents detailed. She also said he often used FaceTime to coerce her to engage in sexual acts, which he viewed through the cell phone app. 

 

Evidence leading to the case

On Oct. 3, 2018, Dobbs applied for a search warrant on Presson’s residence at 414 Tiki Trail in Gainesville. The warrant was granted by Cynthia MacPherson, who was Ozark County associate circuit judge at that time. 

A team of investigators with OCSD, Southwest Cyber Crimes Task Force and the Department of Homeland Security executed the search warrant on the residence the same day. Officers reportedly confiscated numerous devices from the Gainesville home that were used in the production of the child pornography. 

A court document listing the proposed evidence that would have been presented at trial indicates that officers seized five laptop computers, nine cell phones, six digital cameras, two digital video cameras, eight flash drives, three SD cards, two tablets, an external hard drive, two “HI-8” tapes, an optical drive and a Go-Pro video camera. 

An aluminum brief case was also found that contained several items including three additional SD cards, one that reportedly held 165 images and 68 videos depicting Jane Doe #1 engaged in sexual activity.

Cell phones from both Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 were also reportedly confiscated as evidence. 

Other interesting items listed on the proposed evidence list insinuates that Todd Presson had been using an alias. The federal documents say that Presson’s wife, Kristie Presson, who has since filed for divorce, provided Dobbs with several documents on Oct. 11, 2018. They included an Indiana ID issued to Tom E. Adkins with a photo of Todd Presson, a Social Security card issued to Tom Edward Adkins, a personal check from the Farm Bureau Credit Union of Gosen, Indiana, issued to Tom Adkins, a prescription drug plan card issued to Tom Adkins and a St. Joseph County, Indiana, Health Department record of birth for Tom Edward Adkins.

Dozens of sexual toys and pornographic DVDs were also confiscated, along with a sexual hanging device, which was removed from what the Pressons called the “love shack,” a free-standing building behind the couple’s home. 

Other items found in the “love shack” included three unmarked firearm silencers and a portable reciprocating saw.  Notebook papers, assumedly written by Presson, were later found in his jail cell on Nov. 15, 2018, titled “My story,” “Reason I killed myself,” and “Confession.”

The proposed witness list for the defense included Presson’s estranged wife Kristie, Brian Ketcham of Elkhart, Indiana, Kevin Presson, Ozark County Sheriff Darrin Reed, Cpl. Dobbs, Lisa Wade of Ozark Family Care, Freida Jerrell and a minor boy. 

 

A winding road to justice

After officers executed the search warrant on Oct. 3, 2018, Presson was charged in Ozark County Court with 10 felony counts, including statutory rape, statutory sodomy, possession of child pornography, possession of child pornography videos and use of a child in a sexual performance. 

Reed issued a press release detailing the evidence found at the Presson home that day, and Presson’s attorney filed a motion for a gag order in the case. As part of the order, Reed and all other sheriff’s department personnel would be required to not speak about the case or the evidence in the case. Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant agreed to have the state and law enforcement officers comply with the order. 

The FBI became involved at some point, and the case was brought before a federal grand jury, which indicted Presson on the charges on Nov. 8, 2018. In response to the federal case filing, the local case was dismissed. 

The case has gone through an extensive history since that time, and many hearings and trials were rescheduled. 

Presson went through five criminal defense attorneys during the federal case’s history. He was most recently represented by Teresa Grantham Fiester of Springfield. 

Details on Presson’s sentencing hearing will be included in an upcoming edition of the Times once that hearing is held.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423