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Press Release

Columbus Man Sentenced for Transportation of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Dezmin Meridith, 27, of Columbus, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for Transportation of Child Pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Meridith to 90 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Meridith will serve 10 years of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. Chief Judge Rossiter ordered Meridith to pay $12,000 in restitution.

In May 2019, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office began investigating a CyberTipline Report that a Dropbox user had uploaded child pornography. Investigators identified Meridith as a suspect and determined that he had relocated from Omaha back to Columbus. Investigators contacted Meridith who admitted to purchasing packages of child pornography files on a chat application and then uploading them to Dropbox.

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 Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force

Updated May 13, 2022

Topic
Project Safe Childhood