Hastings Man Sentenced to More Than 33 Years for Production of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Joshua Sund, 42, of Hastings, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for two counts of production of child pornography. Sund was sentenced to 400 months in prison and will also serve 10 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Sund was additionally ordered to pay $3,000 which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes.

This case began on November 3, 2021, when a concerned individual reported to the Hastings Police Department that he had purchased a laptop from Joshua Sund and that he had found videos on the computer that appeared to be Sund engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a prepubescent minor.  Law enforcement received a search warrant for the device and performed a forensic download.  Law enforcement located the videos in question from the download of the laptop computer.  They identified Sund as the male in the videos.  There were seven videos depicting Sund engaged in sexually explicit conduct with the prepubescent minor which occurred on five separate occasions spanning a period of approximately a year and a half.

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 Hastings Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.