Jury Convicts Cedar Rapids Man On Child Pornographt Charges

A man who received and possessed child pornography was convicted by a jury today after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

James Sumner, age 49, from Cedar Rapids, was convicted of one count of receipt of child pornography and three counts of possession of child pornography. The verdict was returned this morning following about six hours and thirty minutes of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that, between 2007 and 2008, Sumner used the Internet to download child pornography. The evidence also showed that, between 2007 and 2011, Sumner possessed child pornography on CDs at his residence in Cedar Rapids.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Sumner was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the verdict was returned and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Sumner faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of fifty years’ imprisonment, $1,000,000 in fines, $400 in special assessments, and at least five years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. He also will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

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.”

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 12-92.