Friday morning, Joshua L. Landrum of Carriere entered a guilty plea in relation to sexual battery charges against him, and he was subsequently sentenced to serve 40 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department Chief Investigator Marc Ogden said the case against Landrum began on April 17, of 2014, when a concerned citizen contacted the department about disturbing images she saw on Landrum’s phone. After relaying the contents of the images in addition to where Landrum could be found, investigators secured a search warrant for the home, Ogden said.
Investigators arrived at the home, located at 7382 Old Highway 11, Carriere, and spoke with Landrum before transporting him to the jail where a second search warrant was secured for the phone. Ogden said that once the warrant was secured, the investigators gained access to the images in question and asked Landrum about them.
Landrum told the investigators that the images were acquired from the Internet, and did not depict local children.
However, after he was charged and the case was made public, the department began receiving calls from concerned citizens alleging that the photos could be of local children. Ogden said the department checked into the tip and found that three of the children in the pictures were indeed Pearl River County residents at the time. During the investigation other images were found of Landrum committing sexual battery to a pre-teen female, Ogden said.
Once the case was established it was presented to the grand jury, who about a year ago indicted Landrum on the charges of two counts of sexual battery, two counts of fondling and three counts of child exploitation.
Ogden said that the case identified four victims ranging in age from 6 to 10-years-old at the time of the battery.
Friday, 15th Circuit Court Judge Tony Mozingo sentenced Landrum to 50 years, with 10 suspended, for the guilty plea he entered earlier in the term, said Assistant District Attorney Lisa McGloflin. Ogden said Landrum, who is now 30-years-old, plead to only one of the charges against him, one count of sexual battery.
Fifteenth District Attorney Hal Kittrell said he is pleased with the outcome of the case and is pleased to know that Landrum will spend the next four decades, day for day, in jail, unable to harm another child.
“He will not see the light of day until that time is served,” Kittrell said.
He said he appreciates the hard work put into the case by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and by McGloflin to bring the case to fruition.