Registered sex offender sentenced to more than 10 years in prison

CAPE GIRARDEAU — A Wappapello man will serve over a decade in prison for possessing child sexual abuse material.

Thomas O. Stroud, Jr., 43, of Wappapello was sentenced on Tuesday to 130 months in federal prison.

According to a press release from the office of United States Attorney Sayler Fleming, Stroud is a registered sex offender with a prior federal conviction for the same offense in 2009. He was serving a 40-year term of supervised release when, in March 2024, Stroud’s probation officer discovered he was using a cell phone to obtain several images containing child sexual abuse material. At his guilty plea hearing last November, Stroud admitted he used a cell phone to communicate with and obtain child sexual abuse material from a subject in Indiana.

After serving his sentence, Stroud will once again be placed on supervised release.

This case was investigated by the United States Probation Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Jack Koester handled the prosecution. Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. presided.