OMAHA-United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Joseph A. Porter, age 35, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. to 90 months’ imprisonment for receipt and distribution of child pornography. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Porter will begin a 10-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender. Judge Rossiter ordered Porter to pay restitution in the amount of $12,000.
On April 20, 2018, an FBI agent was conducting an investigation of individuals using Kik, an online website, to share child pornography. The agent received a private message from Porter using an alias and this identified him as a person of interest.
On May 10, 2018, the FBI executed a federal search warrant of Porter’s residence in Omaha. The FBI seized numerous digital devices. Porter gave a voluntary statement to law enforcement in which he admitted to using Kik. A forensic review of Porter’s Kik account and digital devices revealed at least seventy-four (74) graphic files of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. At least twenty-eight (28) video files were identified as minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The forensic review of Porter’s Kik account and digital devices further revealed that between on or about January 1, 2018, through May 9, 2018, Porter, using the internet, distributed and received images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Most of the images comprising his collection consisted of children under the age of 12 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 Attorney’s 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 Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force