City police assist in probe of child pornography case

Cape Girardeau police were involved in an investigation that resulted in the arrest of a St. Charles, Mo., man on child pornography charges.

Paul William Hilton, 41, was arrested Nov. 21 on federal charges of transporting child pornography in interstate commerce. He was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Audrey G. Fleissig and remains in jail pending trial.

If convicted, Hilton faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

Cape Girardeau police had been investigating the case since July 6, said police Cpl. Rick Schmidt.

Schmidt said around that time a Cape Girardeau woman who had been in an Internet chat room said she received a personal message from one of the chatters to download some photographs. The pictures turned out to be of a girl engaged in sexually explicit acts with an adult male.

"That really disturbed her," Schmidt said, so she called the police.

About the same time, the U.S. Customs Department received a complaint about the same photographs, Schmidt said.

Agents who testified at Hilton's preliminary hearing said the male in the photographs matched the weight and general physical description of the defendant. Court documents indicate Hilton posted the child pornography.

Investigators allege Hilton described himself in an online profile as a 41-year-old male who lived in "your nightmares." Other information listed in the profile referencing hobbies makes explicit reference to abusing and molesting little girls.

The department's computer detective, Cpl. Trevor Pulley, "did a ton of work" on the case said Schmidt.

Cape Girardeau police worked with U.S. Customs, U.S. Secret Service, the FBI and the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department.

The federal charge stems from the photographs having been available to Yahoo! users across the country and the images having been downloaded by various individuals across the United States.