Jury Convicts Minnesota Man of Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

A man who traveled from Minnesota to Iowa to have sex with minors was convicted by a jury on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, after a three-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Terrance Nordwall, age 50, of Faribault, Minnesota, was convicted of attempted sex trafficking of children, attempted enticement of minors, and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. 

The evidence at trial showed that, in March and April of 2019, Nordwall exchanged text messages with a man who he believed was a “pimp” with a 14-year-old girl and a 15‑year‑old girl available.  The man was actually an undercover law enforcement officer.  Nordwall agreed to pay the pimp $200 for a half hour with the two girls, and he drove to the Cedar Rapids area, where he met law enforcement officers.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Nordwall remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Nordwall faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, $15,300 in special assessments, and supervised release for 5 years to life following any imprisonment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Hiawatha Police Department.

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 19-57.

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