New judge appointed for child pornography case involving Callaway County commissioner’s son

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ) -

An Audrain County judge will now handle a child sex crimes case involving a relative of a Callaway County commissioner.

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed Associate Circuit Judge Melissa Buckman Young to oversee 38-year-old Joshua Jungermann's criminal case. Joshua Jungermann is the son of presiding commissioner Gary Jungermann. The previous judge, Chris Wilson, asked to be taken off of the case because of an unspecified "conflict," according to court records posted on CaseNet.

The Boone County Prosecutor's Office is handling the case for the state after the Callaway County Prosecutor's Office asked for someone to take it. Brouck Jacobs, a judge for the 13th Judicial Circuit, which covers Boone and Callaway counties, ordered the special prosecutor on Jan. 7. Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said the basis of the request "is that the defendant is related to one of the county commissioners there."

Detectives with the Boone County Cyber Crimes Task Force wrote that they got a tip in the fall about someone uploading child pornography to an online service. IP addresses came back to Jungermann's residence, the probable cause statement said, and Jungermann allegedly admitted to sharing it.

Prosecutors also charged Jungermann with five counts of promoting obscenity for allegedly changing the images of five different adult women to appear nude without their consent.

Jungermann pleaded not guilty on Monday through his attorney, Christopher Slusher. Slusher declined to comment on Tuesday.