KANSAS CITY —A four-month-investigation culminated with the arrest of a Kansas City area woman this week for possession of child sexual abuse material.
Clay County, Missouri sheriff’s investigators received an Internet Crimes Against Children tip in this case in December, according to a media release from the sheriff's office. They have worked through several legal processes over the last several months to gather evidence in the case to make an arrest of 44-year-old Melissa Bottom and obtain a search warrant of her house in the 14100 block of Lora Street, Smithville.
On Thursday, Sheriff’s deputies and detectives served the warrant at the residence. She has been charged with two class B felony counts of possession of child pornography. The Court set her bond at $25,000.
The investigation is ongoing, and more charges may be warranted as analysis of evidence seized from the home progresses.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office is part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program. It is a network of 61 coordinated task forces, representing more than 5,400 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, dedicated to investigating, prosecuting and developing effective responses to internet crimes against children.