Northland Man Convicted on Child Porn, Abuse Charges

PLATTE CITY, Mo. — A Platte County man will spend the next 28 years in prison after he was convicted of child abuse and child pornography charges.

James Marquis, 44, was found guilty of three counts of possession of child pornography, abuse of a child, and endangering the welfare of a child in connection to the abuse at his Platte City home.

According to court documents, the case began in January 2010, when officers from the Platte City Police Department were called to the high school regarding possible child abuse. The victim reported that she was afraid to go home because of the way her parents would punish her.

Marquis forced the victim, a 15-year-old girl, to stand in the corner for up to 10 hours a day for weeks at a time. Marquis monitored her standing in the corner through video surveillance placed in her room. The victim was only allowed to leave the corner to eat and perform chores.

As part of her chores, the victim was also required to clean the home. She testified at trial that she saw sexually explicit materials laying around and that she would have to put them away when guests would come.

Based on information obtained from the victim during her interview, police obtained a search warrant, which revealed multiple images of child pornography on Marquis` computer along with video clips of the victim standing in a corner of her room.

Marquis is set to be sentenced on June 14.