JOPLIN, Mo. —
A Joplin man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison without parole by U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr.
Brandy Andrew Hertl, 31, pleaded guilty on June 21 to receiving child pornography. A registered sex offender, Hertl was convicted of indecent liberties with a 3-year-old girl in 2009.
Hertl was arrested when police conducted a sex offender compliance roundup in Joplin on May 1. When a Jasper County deputy arrived at Hertl’s residence, he saw Hertl in the front seat of a van in front of the residence, with a laptop computer. The deputy asked Hertl what he was doing and Hertl said he had been downloading child pornography files on the computer.
Hertl told the officer that he was living in the van and using his sister’s wireless Internet connection from the house to download the files.
Investigators found videos and images of child pornography on the laptop computer while doing a forensic examination.
Hertl’s sentence is the maximum statutory penalty for the offense.
It was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department and the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Crime & Courts
Joplin man, registered sex offender, sentenced to 20 years
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