Sacramento Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of a Child

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nathaniel John Cummings, 42, of Sacramento, was sentenced today to 30 years in prison to be followed by 25 years supervised release for sexual exploitation of a child, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Cummings sexually exploited a very young child. He also used Instagram messenger to receive visual depictions of a different child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On July 29, 2020, a law enforcement team executed a search warrant at Cummings’s residence and located multiple images of child sexual abuse on his cellphone and computer.

When Cummings was 22 years old, he was convicted of engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old victim in Alameda County and received a sentence of one year in jail and five years of probation. While on probation for that sexual abuse of a minor crime, at age 25, Cummings was convicted of oral copulation, sexual penetration, and sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old victim.

This case was investigated by the Sacramento Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, a federally and state-funded task force managed by the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department with agents from federal, state, and local agencies. The Sacramento ICAC investigates online child exploitation crimes, including child pornography, enticement, and sex trafficking. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina M. McCall prosecuted the case.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.justice.gov/psc.