A former Phelps County deputy has pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges

ROLLA, Mon. (KMIZ)

A former Phelps County sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to child sex crimes, the Justice Department said in a news release.

The release said 43-year-old Justin Bradley Durham of Rolla admitted to “participating in sexual acts with a minor, soliciting and receiving child pornography and destroying evidence to hinder the FBI.”

He pleaded guilty in Missouri Eastern District Court in St. Louis to one count of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of receiving child pornography and three counts of destroying documents during a federal investigation.

Durham will be sentenced on February 5, 2025. He admitted to soliciting and receiving explicit videos from the teenager in 2013 and paying them to engage in sexual acts with him, the release said.

Durham was arrested by the sheriff’s office in August 2023.

Durham has several active court cases in Phelps County. In one case, he was charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. He pleaded not guilty earlier this week in the case and a jury trial was set for 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 7.

In another case, he was charged with first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy. In another case, he was charged with possession of child pornography.

He was also charged with second-degree child trafficking and possession of child pornography in another case, which is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, March 10, 2025. A preliminary hearing in this case is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, February 6.