By Allen Edmonds
PECULIAR – The 29-year-old associate pastor of the First Baptist Church of Peculiar is being held without bond after his arrest Tuesday on two counts of promoting child pornography after search warrants were conducted at both the church and the Greenwood home of Andrew James Lovisone.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by a detective with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, the department was provided five cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children through the Missouri Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Officers obtained a subpoena for the internet protocol address associated with emails involved with the distribution of the files, and discovered that the address belonged to the First Baptist Church in Peculiar.
“Upon further investigation, it was discovered that First Baptist Church in Peculiar had a staff member, later determined to be the defendant, whose name was similar to the email addresses from the cyber tips.”
The detective noted in the statement that two files of prepubescent females were shared from the church’s address on Aug. 19, and one on July 3. The files all depicted the children involved in sexual activity.
Officers executing the search warrant at Lovisone’s Greenwood home made contact with the defendant. He was later taken into custody at the scene.
Following the completion of both warrant searches, Lovisone admitted during an interview at the Sheriff’s Office that the email addresses associated with the cybertips belonged to him.
“He confessed that he had been using applications to download and share child sexual abuse materials,” the affidavit said.
“When asked about the cellphone that had been recovered from him when he was taken into custody, he advised I would locate pictures and videos as young as 12 years old. He also stated the downloads and uploads were occurring at both the church and his residence after hours during the week.”
Promoting child pornography is a Class B felony in Missouri, the second most serious classification of felony. A Class B felony carries a penalty of at least 5 and no more than 15 years in prison. No initial court date had been listed as of Wednesday night.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and Greenwood Police Department assisted with the case. Anyone with further information regarding this case is asked to call the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 816-380-5200.