Press Releases
INTERNET STING GETS NEWTON MAN OVER 11 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR ATTEMPTING TO RECEIVE CHILD PORN
April 3, 2009
Contact: Ian Thornhill
United States Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth announced today that a Newton man who attempted to receive child pornography was sentenced on April 2, 2009, to more than 11 years in federal prison.
VINCENT LAWRENCE BAUER, JR., 55, from Newton, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 20, 2008, guilty plea to one count of attempting to receive images of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
At the guilty plea, BAUER admitted that, on November 4, 2006, while using the Internet and a chat room on his home computer, he made contact with a person he believed to be a minor female. He actually was in contact with an undercover Deputy with the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office. On December 12, 2006, BAUER sent his intended victim money to buy a webcam to produce and send him visual depictions of sexually explicit conduct.
BAUER was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. BAUER was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 15-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
BAUER is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ian K. Thornhill and investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
This case was filed as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the United States Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
