United States Attorney's Office
Acting United States Attorney Matthew Molsen announced that Robert Blessing, 28, of Fremont, Nebraska, was sentenced on March 20, 2025, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for distribution of child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr., sentenced Blessing to 97 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Blessing’s release from prison, he will begin a six-year term of supervised release. Blessing was also ordered to pay restitution of $3,500 to each of four identified victims.
On August 14, 2023, Medialab/KIK (KIK) made a report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) indicating a KIK user uploaded a video depicting child pornography on or about June 29, 2023. The IP address associated with the CyberTip resolved to a Fremont, Nebraska, residence belonging to Robert Blessing. A Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) investigator obtained a search warrant for Blessing’s KIK account and, in reviewing the KIK account’s contents, learned Blessing sent the child pornography video reported in the CyberTip to another KIK user on June 29, 2023.
On October 5, 2023, NSP served a search warrant at Blessing’s residence and seized his electronic devices for forensic examination. Investigators forensically extracted and analyzed Blessing’s electronic devices. The content of Blessing’s KIK account and his device extractions revealed he possessed at least 1,917 child pornography image files and 26 child pornography video files. The files included pornographic images and videos involving prepubescent children, including infants and toddlers, adults having sex with children, and depictions of sadomasochism.
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 Nebraska State Patrol.