Onawa Man Sentenced to 21 Months for Possessing Child Pornography

A man who possessed child pornography was sentenced May 9, 2012 to 21 months in federal prison.

Terry Tyson, age 54, from Onawa, Iowa, received the sentence after a January 20, 2012 guilty plea to one count of possessing child pornography.

At the guilty plea, Tyson admitted that, between September 2009 and August 2010, he knowingly possessed child pornography on a computer in his residence.

Tyson was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Tyson was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and Tyson must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements. There is no parole in the federal system.

Tyson is being held in the United States Marshals custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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.