US man who taught in China sentenced for sexual exploitation

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who taught English in China has been sentenced to nearly 42 years in federal prison for attempting to blackmail a former student into sending him pornographic images of herself. The U.S. attorney’s office announced Friday that 48-year-old Curtis Baldwin had been sentenced for sexual exploitation of a minor and receiving and distributing child pornography. Prosecutors said he contracted the 12-year-old in November 2019 after leaving his job in China and returning to Springfield, Missouri. The release said Baldwin told the girl that he had video footage that showed her engaged in sexually explicit conduct and threatened to post the video online unless she sent him additional pornographic images and a video.