Grand Island Man Sentenced to 52 Years for Conspiracy to Produce Child Pornography and Production of Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Scott Lee Meyer, 34, of Grand Island, Nebraska, was sentenced on December 1, 2023, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska for conspiracy to produce child pornography and production of child pornography. Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Meyer to 624 months’ imprisonment. Meyer will then serve the remainder of his life on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.  Meyer was additionally ordered to pay $11,250 in restitution as well as a $9,000 special assessment which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes.

This case initiated in July of 2022 with an investigation by the FBI in an attempt to identify children in a series of child pornography images which were being shared online. Through the investigation it was determined that the files were associated with Scott Meyer and Scott Simmons. Simmons was previously sentenced to 60 years in prison on July 6, 2023, regarding the same case.

On August 25, 2022, a search warrant was received to search Meyer’s and Simmons’ residence. During the search warrant, it was determined that the residence was where many of the child exploitation files were produced. Numerous electronic devices were seized from the residence. Meyer was at the residence during the execution of the search warrant. He agreed to be interviewed and admitted that he and Simmons had engaged in photographing and recording prepubescent boys in a sexually explicit manner. He admitted that these images and videos were produced at their residence and other locations to include various hotels. Four child victims were identified and interviewed by child advocate interviewers.

A forensic examination was completed of Meyer’s and Simmons’ personal cellphones. Each phone contained more than 400 files of child pornography. A large majority of these files found on the phones were original productions of the minor victims in this case.

Meyer was previously convicted in 2013, for two counts of sexual assault of a child in the 1^st degree in Hall County District Court, Nebraska. Meyer and Simmons met while both were serving sentences for child-sex offenses in Nebraska. Meyer and Simmons distributed the images and videos they produced of the victims in this case on the Tor network using encrypted forms of email to further hide their identities. They additionally directly shared the files they created with at least one acquaintance they made while serving their prior sentences.

Following today’s sentencing, Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr expressed “The sentencing today of Scott Meyer and the July Sentencing of Scott Simmons reflect the seriousness of the crimes these men jointly committed. Their actions were reprehensible, unspeakable, and carefully planned for their own gratification without regard for the lives they were affecting. The sentences imposed although significant do not erase the impact their conduct will have on the children and their families for years to come.”

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 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.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.