Sergeant Bluff Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Pornography Conviction

Possessed more than 600 images of child pornography

A man who received child pornography was sentenced May 11, 2020, to more than 5 years in federal prison.

Alec Gibson, 25, from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, received the prison term after a December 17, 2019, guilty plea to receipt of child pornography.

Evidence at the plea hearing and sentencing showed that between October 2016 and August 24, 2017, Gibson possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including a depiction involving a minor who had not attained 12 years of age.  During the execution of a search warrant at Gibson’s residence on August 24, 2017, officers seized items belonging to Gibson.  A forensic examiner found child pornography on some of these items, including depictions of adult males sexually penetrating prepubescent children.  Evidence also showed that Gibson made contact with children via online platforms, and admitted that some of the minors sent him nude photographs.

Gibson was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Gibson was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.  Gibson is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.”  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mikala Steenholdt and investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, FBI Child Exploitation Task Force, Sergeant Bluff Police Department, and U.S. Marshal's Service.