Former High School Assistant Coach Sentenced to 15 Years for Production of Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Steve Russell announced that Nathan R. Rogers, 27, formerly of South Sioux City, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for production of child pornography. Rogers was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 5 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.  Rogers was additionally ordered to pay $3,000 which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of cases.

On or about March 3, 2021, the Nebraska State Patrol began investigating a complaint of a sexual assault allegedly committed by Rogers. The minor complainant alleged that Rogers, who was an assistant coach at the high school she attended, had forcibly sexually assaulted her in December of 2020.  On March 26, 2021, investigators interviewed Rogers regarding the alleged sexual assault. During the interview, Rogers admitted to investigators that he had sexual intercourse with her. Also, during the interview, Rogers admitted that he and the minor had communicated through text messages from his cellphone. Rogers was arrested for First Degree Sexual Assault of a Child and Child Abuse. During the arrest, investigators seized Rogers’ cellphone and a search warrant was obtained on March 30, 2021.

During the investigation, investigators interviewed another minor female (“Victim 1” as listed in the Indictment). Investigators reviewed the downloaded information from Rogers’ cellphone and observed numerous video clips of Rogers engaged in sexual intercourse with Victim 1. Investigators observed the date stamp of the video clips to be between October 11, 2020 through February 20, 2021. Victim 1 would have been 15-16 years old at the time of the videos. In total there were around 23 videos which contained some type of sexually explicit conduct involving Victim 1 located on Rogers’ cellphone. Similar to Minor 1, Victim 1 attended the high school where Rogers was employed as an assistant coach.

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 Attorneys’ 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Nebraska State Patrol.