A Piedmont man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for production of child pornography involving 10 young boys from the area.
Ray Waites, 47, was sentenced Tuesday before United States District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. at the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau.
Waites pleaded guilty to the charges in November, admitting he produced video recordings depicting 10 young boys engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District.
After serving the 30-year sentence, Waites will be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life. Waites will also be required to register as a sex offender, officials said.
An investigation of Waites began in March 2022, according to court documents.
An 11-year-old boy reported he had been sexually abused by Waites on multiple occasions, and that Waites had recorded the abuse.
When Wayne County Sheriff’s Department deputies confronted Waites at his home with a search warrant, he cut his own throat with a knife, according to court documents. He was rushed to an area hospital for treatment and stabilized.
The search of Waites’ residence recovered multiple electronic devices and several videos of Waites engaging in sexual activity with the 11-year-old boy, as well as sexually explicit recordings of nine other young boys from the area, court officials said.
This case was investigated by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution for the Government.