A Taney County man pleaded guilty to producing child pornography in federal court Wednesday.
Mark John Millman, a 37-year-old citizen of Great Britain and a legal alien resident, was charged with sexually assaulting two children to produce child pornography in January.
Mark Millman and his wife, who also pleaded guilty to these charges on June 30th, have been in federal custody since their arrest.
The investigation began when authorities discovered a cloud storage platform that provides services enabling private, secure online storage, communication, and collaboration.
Investigators accessed an encrypted chat room with many users actively involved in the distribution of child pornography.
Authorities identified Mark Millman’s email among the registered users of the chat room.
After producing a search warrant, investigators discovered child pornography on the couple’s cell phones, including files that depicted the couple sexually assaulting both victims.
Mark Millman and his wife, Tara Sue Millman, each admitted that they viewed child pornography together and that they used a social media application to share child pornography over the internet.
Mark and Tara Millman will each serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole and up to 50 years in federal prison without parole.
(Story by: Emilee Kuschel, Ozarks First)