Springfield Man Receives 35 Years for Aggravated Sexual Abuse of Minor Under 12

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — John Michel Bradley, 66, of Springfield, Missouri, was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison Tuesday for three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor less than 12 years old and one count of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign place.

The sentence applies to conduct involving one victim, a child under the age of 12. Federal law sets a statutory minimum of 30 years for aggravated sexual abuse of a child under 12; the court imposed a term five years above that floor. Bradley must serve the full term with no parole.

Upon release he faces lifetime supervised release and mandatory registration as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

The operational change is immediate. Bradley entered custody following the hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The Bureau of Prisons will designate a facility within the next several weeks. The sentencing also initiates separate proceedings to calculate restitution to the victim and to impose special assessments required under federal statute.

Downstream effects include activation of victim-notification rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, potential asset forfeiture tied to the foreign conduct, and formal notification to Missouri state authorities for sex-offender registry purposes.

The Justice Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri prosecuted the case. The foreign count requires the department to coordinate with the State Department and foreign law-enforcement partners to close any open investigative leads.

This marks the latest federal conviction obtained through investigations that combine domestic victim interviews with evidence gathered from overseas travel by U.S. citizens. The Department of Justice has pursued similar cases under 18 U.S.C. § 2241(c) and 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c) in multiple districts this year.

The original complaint and plea agreement details remain under seal to protect the victim’s identity.