Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Joseph S. Martin, 23, formerly of Hebron, Nebraska, was sentenced on January 18, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for distribution of child pornography after having previously been convicted of possession child pornography. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Martin to 20 years’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Martin’s release from prison, he will begin a 30-year term of supervised release. Judge Buescher ordered Martin to pay $24,000 in restitution.

On November 9, 2021, Homeland Security Investigations in Omaha received several cyber tips from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) and Nebraska State Patrol (NSP).  One such cyber tip included information forwarded by Facebook to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that related to child exploitation material distributed by a Facebook user on July 12, 2021.  Facebook identified the IP address and account that uploaded the suspected child pornography image.  Facebook confirmed the Facebook account username belonged to Joseph Martin. Additional investigative work determined the IP address and associated phone number belonged to Martin. 

Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Martin’s Facebook account which contained several images of child pornography.  When interviewed, Martin admitted to law enforcement that approximately 500 images of child pornography would be located on various cyber sites associated with him.

Martin was previously convicted on August 23, 2019 and March 19, 2021, of possession of child pornography, both in the Douglas County District Court, Douglas County, Nebraska.

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 Homeland Security Investigations and the Nebraska State Patrol.