CAPE GIRARDEAU – A sex offender from southeast Missouri on Tuesday admitted being caught again with child sexual abuse material.
Thomas O. Stroud Jr., 43, of Wappapello, Missouri, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to the possession of child pornography.
According to court documents, Stroud has a prior federal conviction for possessing child pornography in 2009. Following his release from federal prison, Stroud was required to register as a sex offender. He was also placed on a 40-year term of supervised release. Last March, while Stroud was serving his term of supervised release, Stroud’s probation officer discovered that he had been using a cell phone to communicate with someone in Indiana. During the communications, Stroud obtained several images of child pornography. At his plea hearing Tuesday, Stroud admitted that he used a cell phone to obtain images of child pornography from the subject in Indiana.
Stroud’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 25, 2025. He faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of 20 years for the new child pornography offense. Stroud also faces an additional sentence of up to 24 months for violating the terms of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester is handling the prosecution.
