KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Johnson County, Kan., man pleaded guilty to producing child pornography. One of the pictures included a naked 2-year-old boy lying in a roasting pan.
U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said Michael D. Arnett, 38, of Roeland Park, Kan., admitted that investigators found child pornography on his computer when they searched his home on May 15, 2012. Arnett pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography.
With the assistance of teachers at an elementary school in Shawnee, Kan., investigators identified three boys who had been photographed at Arnett’s home in the 5400 block of Juniper Drive in Roeland Park. At the time the photos were taken, the boys were between the ages of 2 and 12.
A criminal complaint revealed a victim told investigators that Michael Arnett and his best friend, Robert Poe III of Kansas City, Kan., abused him and his brother when they were children, even holding a gun to one boy’s head during sex. Poe is expected to plead guilty to child porn-related charges Tuesday, Feb. 19.
According to court documents that were released in July, Arnett and another man, Ronald Brown, 57, of Largo, Florida, conspired to kidnap, torture, rape and murder children then cook the young victims’ body parts on a stove. Brown told investigators those acts were fantasies and never acted upon.
Among the images investigators found was one of a naked boy about two years old lying in a roaster pan that was placed inside an open oven. Another image showed the same boy in the roaster pan with the oven door shut.
Investigators learned that Arnett met the children while he was driving for Kaw Valley Health Systems, a nonprofit corporation that provides medical care and social services for children. He drove them to family visitations, counseling and other appointments.
Sentencing is set for May 13. Arnett faces a penalty of not less than 15 years and not more than 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000. Grissom commended ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Martin for their work on the case.
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