ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in federal court on Monday, just days after being indicted for sex crimes involving children.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Tracy Jenkins, 57, made videos of sexual abuse of minors and circulated that material online.
Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg, FBI St. Louis Division, said investigators first became aware of the videos in 2017, and have been working to identify the victims ever since.
On Thursday, Feb. 23, FBI agents received information about the identity and location of one of the victims. An interview with that individual led authorities to four other victims, all of whom identified Tracy Jenkins as the man who abused them over the years and recorded those encounters.
The following day, federal agents went to Jenkins’ home with a search warrant. They found a hard drive containing more than 100 videos that not only matched the videos found online, but had other incidents with victims who have yet to be identified. Jenkins was taken into custody that day.
Jenkins was charged with one count of production of child pornography. If convicted, he faces between 15 and 30 years in prison, as well as a $250,000 fine.
According to court documents, Jenkins has a prior conviction for misdemeanor sexual misconduct in a 1997 case in St. Louis.