Sex offender accused of living too close to school

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — Local and federal officers executed a search warrant Wednesday morning on the home of a convicted sex offender suspected of downloading child pornography and living too close to a school.

The search was executed about 8:45 a.m. by members of the Poplar Bluff Police Department and U.S. Department of Homeland Security at Kevin Mark Sivley’s home in the 600 block of Neoma Street, according to Poplar Bluff Police Capt. J.R. Keirsey.

The search, he said, was based on information that alleged the 39-year-old man downloaded child pornography.

“We had to force the front door” to gain entry, Keirsey said.

Sivley’s mother was inside when officers entered. Sivley was taken into custody “while attempting to flee out the back door of the residence,” Keirsey said.

During the search, he said, media devices were seized that “went with the Department of Homeland Security.”

When interviewed, Sivley “admitted to downloading and sharing child pornography,” Keirsey said.

“The investigation also revealed that Mr. Sivley was living less than 1,000 feet” from Poplar Bluff Junior High School. He was booked into the Butler County Jail on that charge, Keirsey said.

Officers will request no bail because of the “potential danger that Mr. Sivley poses to children and the public,” Keirsey said.

“As the investigation proceeds, the Poplar Bluff Police Department anticipates federal charges involving multiple counts of possession of child pornography” will be filed against Sivley, Keirsey said.

At the time of his arrest, Sivley reportedly was up-to-date in his sex-offender registration with the Butler County Sheriff’s Department.

Sivley’s last contact date was Dec. 31, and his next required contact date was to be March 31, sheriff’s department personnel said.

Sivley was required to register after being convicted in Alabama federal court in 2004 of possession of child pornography, Keirsey said.

In 2007, he said, Sivley was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in Alabama and convicted of that charge in 2010.

Keirsey said Sivley again was arrested in 2011 for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender in Alabama.

In 2013, Keirsey said, Sivley was arrested in Detroit for allegedly violating his probation.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, Mo.