Bellevue Man Sentenced to 110 Months for Distributing Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Robert A. Ryan, 35, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha by United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher to 110 months’ imprisonment for distribution of child pornography. After his release from prison, Ryan will begin a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

On September 17, 2021, Kik, a social media application, identified at least two videos of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct that were distributed to others on the Kik application.  Kik captured the Internet Protocol (IP) address that was used to distribute the videos as well as the Kik account name.  Law enforcement obtained information related to the IP addresses, which ultimately identified Ryan as the subscriber and his residence in Bellevue, Nebraska.  Law enforcement executed a search of Ryan’s residence and seized his cellular phone.  Forensic analysis of the cellular phone found numerous images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

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 Attorney’s 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 Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.