United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Michael L. Nguyen, 27, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on June 20, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to five years in prison by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon for receipt of child pornography. After his release from prison, Nguyen will be required to serve a 5 year term of supervised release and be registered as a sex offender. Additionally, Nguyen is ordered to pay a total of $6,000 in restitution, to be divided among victims whose images were included in the numerous files located on Nguyen’s computers.

On February 12, 2013, an investigator was investigating computers sharing child pornography on the Internet. An IP address registered to Nguyen was identified as having files in violation of state and local law. Between February 12, 2013 and February 25, 2013, an investigator was able to make a direct connection to a computer at Nguyen’s IP address and downloaded 5 five videos depicting sexually explicit conduct involving children under the age of 18 years old. On February 22, 2013, members of the Lincoln Police Department and Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Nguyen’s residence. Nguyen was contacted during the warrant and did admit that he downloaded and used file sharing software on his laptop. Investigators conducted a forensic preview of Nguyen’s laptop computer and found numerous videos and images depicting sexually explicit conduct involving children under the age of 18 years old.

Forensic analysis of the company laptop computer used by Nguyen revealed over 2,339 images, including over 200 videos of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Lincoln Police Department.