Otsego Man Sentenced To 28 Years In Prison For Production Of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald announced the sentencing of NICHOLAS SCOTT CAMPBELL, 37, to 28 years in prison for producing child pornography involving two minors. CAMPBELL, who pleaded guilty on April 8, 2019, to one count of production of child pornography, was sentenced today before Judge Susan Richard Nelson in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“The sexual exploitation of children is a despicable and vile crime. This defendant, who preyed on and exploited vulnerable children for years, will now be held accountable for his actions, locked away in prison for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Erica MacDonald.

"It is unthinkable, but every single year thousands of children become victims of crimes like this," said FBI Minneapolis Special Agent in Charge, Jill Sanborn. "The FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children program takes these crimes seriously and commits significant resources to provide rapid, proactive and comprehensive response to get defendants like this off the streets and into prison for a very long time."

According to the defendant’s guilty plea and documents filed in court, in February 2017, the FBI began investigating CAMPBELL because he was using a peer-to-peer file-sharing platform to distribute child pornography. Following the execution of a federal search warrant at CAMPBELL’s residence, agents seized a large volume of electronic evidence. Upon review of the evidence by the FBI and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), agents determined that CAMPBELL had produced sexually explicit images and videos of two minors. As part of his guilty plea, CAMPBELL admitted to creating the images and videos, and to engaging in a pattern of prohibited sexual conduct with the minors.

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 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, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant United States Attorney Katharine T. Buzicky prosecuted the case.

Defendant Information:                                                                                                                     

NICHOLAS SCOTT CAMPBELL, 37

Otsego, Minn.

Convicted:

• Production of child pornography, 1 count

Sentenced:

• 336 months in prison
• 25 years of supervised release

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600