Lincoln Man Convicted for Receipt of Child Pornography

 United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that James Chase, 53, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln by Senior United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf for receipt of child pornography. Chase was sentenced to 6 years in prison and 8 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case began with a cyber tip from Kik indicating that Chase uploaded an image of suspected child pornography in November of 2018. Following a review of the cyber tip and image, agents with Homeland Security Investigations went to Chase’s home and interviewed him on November 12, 2019. Chase informed the agent of his email – which was the email used to create the Kik account that uploaded the child pornography. Chase admitted that he came across child pornography on Kik and that he had been in some child pornography Kik groups.

Chase provided consent to search his tablet and phone. The examination of the tablet revealed 20 images containing child pornography. Based on the images found on the tablet, a search warrant was received authorizing a search of Chase’s home to seize electronic devices found therein. The search warrant was executed on November 18, 2019. A forensics examination was completed on the devices seized, revealing an additional 6 images and 3 videos of child pornography on Chase’s laptop computer.

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 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.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.