Retired Springfield Police Officer Sentenced To Federal Prison For Possession Of Kiddie Porn:

By Kathee Baird

April 30, 2015

Steven Magruder in his patrol vehicle.

Springfield, Mo.- A retired Springfield police officer was sentenced to four years in federal prison today for possessing child pornography.

According to the federal indictment, Steven Robert Magruder, 60, was downloading sexually explicit images of children less than 12 years-old to his computer the day a search warrant was executed at this home. Magruder received and distributed those images between April 2012 and April of 2013.

A detective with the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department identified Magruder’s computer on Jan. 7, 2013, as sharing child pornography over the Internet. The detective downloaded 12 videos of child pornography that Magruder was sharing via a peer-to-peer file-sharing program during a 42-day period in January and February 2013.

A news release issued at the time of the indictment said, “The defendant is currently a security officer for a local college. In addition, he once served as [a] law enforcement officer. As a retired law enforcement officer and current security official, the defendant would be familiar with and investigated crimes against minors. Despite the defendant’s law enforcement experience and background he has chosen to violate the law he once swore to enforce by not only possessing images of children engaged in sexual acts, but receiving and distributing these images, further victimizing these children.

Magruder retired as a corporal from the Springfield Police Department in 2005. He worked part-time from 2006 to 2014 as a security officer for Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield and as a bailiff for the Greene County Circuit Court in 2013.

He was also ordered to pay restitution to one of his victims.