Year Long Investigation Into Branson West Man Leads To Child Pornography Charges:

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Richard Dean Blackwell (mug shot SCSO)

A man from Branson West is behind bars after a year long child pornography investigation that involved multiple law enforcement agencies.

Sheriff Doug Rader says Richard Dean Blackwell, 52, was taken into custody on an investigative hold on August 29th after authorities executed a search warrant at 3478 Talking Rocks Road.  During the execution of the warrant, detectives seized computers and flash drives from the residence and during forensic examinations of the devices the next day they located "several images of child sexual abuse."

Rader says the investigation into Blackwell began in August of 2012 after a detective in Nixa, who is assigned to the Tri-Lakes Cyber Crime Task Force, received images on a program targeted to locate child sexual abuse images on the Internet. Within the last few weeks the same detective allegedly received another download, which led the to the residence on Talking Rocks Road.

The Branson police Department also assisted in the investigation, according to Rader.

Blackwell is being held in the Stone County Jail on $25,000 bond.

UPDATE 02-12-14:

A man from Branson West was ordered to stand trial on charges of possession of child pornography after he waived his preliminary hearing last week.

Authorities took Richard Dean Blackwell into custody on an investigative hold last August after they executed a search warrant at 3478 Talking Rocks Road.  During the execution of the warrant, detectives seized computers and flash drives from the residence and during forensic examinations of the devices the next day they located "several images of child sexual abuse."

Sheriff Doug Rader says a year long investigation into Blackwell was launched after a detective in Nixa, who is assigned to the Tri-Lakes Cyber Crime Task Force, received images on a program targeted to locate child sexual abuse images on the Internet. The same detective allegedly received another download a few weeks later that led  them to the residence on Talking Rocks Road.

Blackwell is scheduled to be arraigned in circuit court on March 3rd.