Des Moines Man Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Production of Child Pornography

DES MOINES, IA – On December 3, 2020, United States District Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced Joseph Lee Fultz, age 52, of Des Moines, to 324 months in prison for Production of Child Pornography announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Fultz was ordered to serve ten years of supervised release to follow his prison term and comply with sex offender registry requirements upon release.

The investigation began in May of 2019 when the Des Moines Police Department received a report that Fultz produced child pornography of four minors, ages 10 and under, while they were under his care. Subsequently, Des Moines police officers executed a search warrant at Fultz’s apartment where they seized his computers and electronic devices. The investigation showed that Fultz produced and possessed child pornography images of the four minors, as well as two additional children, including an infant. All six children were located and identified.

This matter was investigated by the Des Moines Police Department, Iowa Division of Criminal  Investigation’s  Internet  Crimes  Against  Children  Task  Force,  and  the   FBI   Child Exploitation Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the United States 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.