A coordinated team effort by multiple agencies yesterday resulted in a search warrant and the arrest of Ronald W. Powell Jr., a 60-year-old male residing in Belton. The Belton Criminal Investigations Unit submitted a case file along with a probable cause statement to the Cass County Prosecutor's Office that resulted in charges filed for four counts of possession of child pornography with no bond. More charges are anticipated as the investigation continues.
Our investigation began on 03/20/2024 when our Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Investigator was contacted by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force regarding a National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip involving a subject who resided in Belton. ICAC provided information containing reports and additional evidence. The basis of this tip was apparent child pornography. The subject listed in the cyber tip was Defendant Powell Jr. Evidence indicated multiple screenshots of child pornography images on the defendant's personal devices. These images were downloaded to the defendant's devices from the web.
Defendant Powell is a registered sex offender and has been incarcerated in the past at the Missouri Department of Corrections for two counts of sodomy, where the victim was listed as a stepchild. The first incident dates back to 1990 for Attempted Sodomy in Raytown, Missouri, then again in 1991 for Attempted Sodomy in Kansas City, Missouri. The defendant was convicted of sodomy in 1995 in Raytown, Missouri, and again in 1998 in Kansas City, Missouri. The defendant also has a felony assault charge from 1995. Assault 1st Degree - Serious Physical Injury { Felony A RSMo: 565.050 } 08/01/1995. Defendant Powell is a Tier III offender with a lifetime registration requirement and must report to the CLEO in person every 90 days. Tier III offenders are not eligible to file a petition for removal from the sex offender registry unless the requirement to register results from an adjudicated delinquent (juvenile) adjudication after 25 years and the clean record removal is met. (589.401).
These cases are disturbing because they involve predators who want to harm innocent children. When investigating crimes against children, it can be difficult to work through sensitive evidence, but we will never stop fighting for these victims and will always go the extra mile to seek justice.
See Missouri Sex Offender Registry for more information.
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