Columbia man charged in federal court accused of child porn possession

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged in federal court for allegedly possessing and sending child pornography recently.

Court documents say 20-year-old Andrew Capps admitted to sending child pornography over Facebook earlier this year.

He was arrested on Friday and later booked into the Cole County Jail after an investigation by the Boone County Sheriff's Department Cyber Crimes Task Force.

According to Capps' affidavit, the cyber crimes task force received a tip on April 22 Capps sent two files believed to contain child porn over Facebook's messaging app on March 20.

In a January conversation over Facebook Messenger, Capps' admitted to a user he was a pedophile and that federal laws were "stupid," according to documents. Investigators said Capps also alleged he previously had sexual intercourse with a child later in the same conversation.

Facebook notified the National Center of Exploited and Missing Children about the suspected crime. The sheriff's department was later tipped off by the organization, investigators said.

Deputies served a search warrant at Capps' residence on Keene Street Friday. According to the documents, Capps admitted to transmitting child porn over the social media website.

Documents said Capps also handed over his cell phone. He alleged thousands of images and videos containing child pornography were stored on the device, deputies said.

Capps alleged to investigators he was so "addicted to child porn, he was better off dead," documents said.

Federal charging documents said Capps could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.