Missouri elementary SRO sentenced for child pornography

A school resource officer in southwestern Missouri has been sentenced to nine years in prison for trading child pornography.

Darrin Marshall Skinner, 52, was arrested in summer 2023 after social media network MeWe alerted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s cyber tip line about a user uploading child pornography images, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice for the Western District of Missouri. Investigators later identified the suspect as Skinner, a Camden County deputy sheriff assigned to Macks Creek Elementary School as a school resource officer.

An investigation revealed MeWe also reported Skinner in 2020 for uploading child pornography involving children younger than 12, including one preschool-age child. Skinner shared several photos of children from the community with other MeWe users, but none of the pornographic images depicted local children, according to another Department of Justice press release.

Investigators said Skinner appeared to obtain some of the photos of local children from social media because the children were wearing gymnastics uniforms from a local studio. Although the images did not contain child pornography, authorities said they were cropped to be sexually suggestive and exchanged in sexually explicit chats on MeWe.

The investigation also revealed Skinner was a member of several sexually oriented social groups using one of his email addresses.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said Skinner faced the following charges from the county prosecutor:

• Two counts of possession of child pornography  
• Six counts of first-degree promoting child pornography  
• Six counts of second-degree promoting child pornography  

He was sentenced May 13 to nine years in prison for one count of receipt of child pornography, according to the Department of Justice. After his prison term, he will be on supervised release for 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.