Fenton Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

A man who enticed a minor to engage in sexual activity and possessed child pornography pled guilty on September 26, 2013, in federal court in Sioux City.

Timothy Koenck, age 54, from Fenton, was convicted of one count of enticing a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, one count of committing a felony offense involving a minor by a person required by federal and Iowa law to register as a sex offender, and two counts of possession of child pornography after having been convicted of an offense relating to sexual abuse or abusive sexual conduct involving a minor.

At the plea hearing, Koenck admitted that, between 2010 and 2012, he used a cell phone and the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and possessed child pornography. Koenck previously had been convicted of enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography in 2001-2002.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Koenck remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Koenck faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine, a $400 special assessment, and supervised release for five years to life following his imprisonment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mower County, Minnesota Sheriff’s Office.

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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “Resources.”