New Hampton Man Charged with Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

William Rolen, age 56, of New Hampton, Iowa, has been charged with attempted enticement of a minor and distribution, receipt, possession, and accessing child pornography.  The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed on March 12, 2019, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. 

The Indictment alleges that, between February 2018 and March 2018, Rolen attempted to entice a person who he believed to be under 18 to engage in criminal sexual activity.  The Indictment also alleges that, between 2015 and 2018, Rolen distributed, received, possessed, and accessed child pornography.

If convicted, Rolen faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $1,250,000 fine, and at least five years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment. 

Rolen appeared today in federal court in Cedar Rapids for a detention hearing and was held without bond.  Rolen’s next appearance for trial is set for May 13, 2019. 

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and is being investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Police Department, the New Hampton Police Department, and the Chickasaw 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 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 19-2014. 

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