Dubuque Sex Offender Sentenced to Twenty-Five Years in Federal Prison

A man who posed as multiple teenagers to engage in sexually explicit communication with minors online and receive child sexual abuse material, was sentenced on February 13, 2023, to 25 years in federal prison.

Robert “Bobby” Lippstock, age 33, from Dubuque, Iowa received the prison term after a September 27, 2022 guilty plea to receipt and possession of child pornography.

At the guilty plea, Lippstock admitted he received and possessed depictions of child pornography from 2019 to 2020.  At a prior hearing, evidence established that Lippstock was previously convicted of attempting to meet with a minor at a local park.  In this case, Lippstock again fooled minors into thinking he was their friend in order to facilitate sexually explicit communication with them.  After gaining their trust, he successfully received and re-distributed child sexual abuse material online through at least eight separate social media aliases.  In addition, Lippstock possessed child sexual abuse material on multiple electronic devices in his residence.  At sentencing, the Judge stated Lippstock poses a real and present danger to the community, particularly to children.

Lippstock was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Lippstock was sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment.    He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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.”

Lippstock 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 Attorneys Liz Dupuich and Jason Norwood and investigated by the Dubuque County Sherriff’s Department. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 22-cr-1029.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.