Kearney Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Sean Peterson, 32, of Kearney, Nebraska, was sentenced on June 17, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to four years, 96 months in prison by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for possession of child pornography.  After his release from prison, Peterson will be required to serve a 15-year term of supervised release and be registered as a sex offender.

In September of 2014, Xoom.com, an online international money transfer service, notified Yahoo! that a number of Yahoo! accounts were engaged in the sale of child exploitation material.  Investigation determined that several email accounts, operating overseas, were believed to be selling images, video and live-streamed sexual abuse.  One of these individuals was communicating with Peterson about having sex with minors.  Peterson also sent the person images of child pornography through web based messenger accounts.  

On July 7^, 2015, a search warrant was issued on Peterson’s residence and he admitted to accessing child pornography web sites using the Internet.  The forensic investigation of the computer equipment found at Peterson’s residence revealed approximately 1,000 images of child pornography, including visual depictions of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

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.