Cedar Rapids Man Sentenced to over 17 Years in Federal Prison for Distribution of Child Pornography

A man who distributed child pornography was sentenced today to over 17 years in federal prison.

Scott Ristine, age 40, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the sentence after a July 14, 2017 guilty plea to one count of distribution of child pornography.  At the plea hearing, Ristine admitted that, in 2015, he knowingly distributed child pornography.  He also admitted that he was convicted of receipt of child pornography in the Northern District of Iowa in 2002.

Ristine was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade.  Ristine was sentenced to 210 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and Ristine must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release.  He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

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 17-37.

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