New Hampton Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography

A man who distributed and possessed child pornography pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids. 

William Rolen, age 56, from New Hampton, Iowa, was convicted of one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  At the plea hearing, Rolen admitted that, in 2018, he knowingly distributed child pornography.  He also admitted that he possessed child pornography, including one or more depictions of prepubescent children. 

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Rolen remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Rolen faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, $10,200 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 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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