Kenneth H. Worthy, 48, West Plains, federally convicted Dec. 6, 2022, of sexual exploitation of a child and distributing child pornography, has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison without parole, followed by 15 years of supervised release.
The sentence was handed down Thursday by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool of the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Missouri, based in Springfield. Worthy will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release and he will be subject to federal and state sex offender registration requirements, which may apply for the remainder of his life, court officials reported.
Federal charges were pursued after Howell County charges were filed in March 2021, after investigation of another person involved in child pornography. That person informed investigators at the time Worthy had transmitted images of himself engaged in sexual acts with a child.
Law enforcement officers then contacted Worthy at his residence and he reportedly admitted he had used a child victim under the age of 2, identified in court documents as “John Doe,” to produce child pornography. Worthy also told investigators he sent pornographic images of the child victim to another person.
Officers seized Worthy’s cell phone and investigators found 10 pornographic images that depicted the child and Worthy.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron Beaver, James J. Kelleher and Ami Harshad Miller. It was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the West Plains Police Department.
As of Friday morning, public court records show Worthy's local case is still on the docket, set for trial March 21 and 22 in Douglas County on a change of venue. He is to appear before 44th Judicial Circuit Court Judge R. Craig Carter after a change of judge was also granted, the records show.
He will be tried on two counts of statutory sodomy, or attempt, involving a victim younger than 12; first-degree child molestation; first-degree child endangerment involving sexual conduct with a child younger than 17 while acting as a parent or guardian; and incest. Each of the charges is a felony.
He is being represented by attorney Lacon Smith of St. Louis, and the case is being prosecuted by Howell County Prosecutor Mike Hutchings and Assistant Prosecutor Rizwan Ahad.
