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Press Release

Mason City Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa
Manning possessed over 150,000 depictions of child pornography and attempted to destroy his cell phone during the execution of a search warrant.

A Mason City, Iowa man who possessed over 150,000 depictions of child pornography was sentenced on Friday, April 28, 2023, to 240 months imprisonment after a jury returned a guilty verdict against him on November 17, 2022.

Brandon Manning, age 41, from Mason City, Iowa, was convicted of two counts of possession of child pornography at trial.  The verdict was returned following more than four hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial and his sentencing showed that Manning possessed thousands of images and videos of child pornography, including pornography of children under the age of 12 years old—including infants, on an SD card in a cellphone he attempted to destroy, as well as an internal hard drive that was found in his home, hidden in his bedroom.

Manning was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 240 months’ imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $118,000 in restitution to the victims.  Manning must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Manning is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ron Timmons and was investigated by the Mason City Police Department and the State of Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. 

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

The case file number is 22-3002.

Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.

Updated May 2, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood