Bettendorf Man Sentenced for Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor

Davenport, IA – Gerald Brian Hoard, age 49 of Bettendorf, Iowa, was sentenced today to time-served following his plea of guilty to Attempted Transfer of Obscene Material to a Minor. Hoard went into custody on March 15, 2022. Hoard will serve three years of supervised release including one year at a residential re-entry center.

According to court documents, Hoard used the social media application Grindr, an online dating app, to communicate with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old. Hoard sent a picture of his genitals to the purported minor. Hoard agreed to meet the minor at a local store for the purpose of engaging in sexual activities.

U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc and click on the resources tab.