Former Dubuque Man Sentenced to Over Twelve Years in Prison for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

A man who received and possessed child pornography was sentenced on September 20, 2018, to over 12 years in federal prison.

Christopher Scruggs, age 50, formerly from Dubuque, Iowa, received the sentence after an April 2, 2018, guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  At the plea hearing, Scruggs admitted that, between 2009 and 2014, he received and possessed child pornography. 

Scruggs was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Scruggs was sentenced to 151 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $200 was imposed, and he was ordered to make $21,500 in restitution, with most of this restitution going to several victims depicted in images he possessed.  Scruggs must also serve a five-year term of supervised release, and 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 Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office, the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, the Davenport Police Department, the Dubuque Police Department, and the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.

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. 

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is CR 17-1048. 

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