Press Release
Oran Man Sentenced To 110 Years For Sexually Exploiting Four Children And Possessing Child Pornography
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa
Februay 4, 2014
A man who sexually exploited four children and possessed child pornography was sentenced February 3, 2014, to 110 years in federal prison.
Benton Stong, age 76, of Oran, Iowa, received the sentence after a September 17, 2013, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of sexual exploitation of children and four counts of possession of child pornography.
The evidence at trial showed that, in 2012, Stong used, persuaded, induced, and enticed four children to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of this conduct. The evidence also showed that, between 2009 and 2012, Stong possessed child pornography at his residence in Oran.
Stong was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Stong was sentenced to 1,320 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $500 was imposed, and Stong must also serve a life 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 Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
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 13-2014.
Updated April 25, 2023
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