Independence Man Sentenced To Over 21 Years For Distributing And Possessing Child Pornography

A man who distributed and possessed child pornography was sentenced September 2, 2014, to over 21 years in federal prison.

Steven Risk, age 38, of Independence, Iowa, received the sentence after a May 9, 2014, guilty plea to one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  At the guilty plea hearing, Risk admitted that, between 2011 and 2013, he distributed and possessed child pornography.  In a plea agreement, defendant admitted he used the Internet to trade child pornography with others and possessed over 30,000 images of child pornography.

Risk was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  Risk was sentenced to 262 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $200 was imposed, and Risk must also serve a 15-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 Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of 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 14-2010.