North Las Vegas Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Distributing Child Pornography On Social Media Site

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A North Las Vegas resident was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for distributing images of child pornography to his Tumblr account, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada.

Johne Lewis Owens II, 43, of North Las Vegas, previously pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey ordered a lifetime term of supervised release.

Between November 2015 and May 2016, Owens admitted that he uploaded numerous images of child pornography to his Tumblr account. On May 14, 2017, Owens’ wife saw sexually explicit and sexual abuse photos of him and a child on his Tumblr account. His wife alerted law enforcement and filed a report. A search warrant on Owens’ Tumblr account revealed his account is “open” and may be viewed by the public. He confessed to taking photos and videos of sex acts with the child, then uploading them onto his Tumblr account thereby distributing the images over the internet.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the North Las Vegas Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elham Roohani prosecuted the case.

If you have information regarding the sexual exploitation of children, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Cyber Tipline at www.cybertipline.org.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 and for information about internet safety education, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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