Prairieburg Man Who Sexually Exploited Children Pleads Guilty

A man who used Snapchat, Instagram, and text messages to persuade children to engage in sexually explicit conduct and send him photographs and videos of this conduct, pled guilty today in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Bryce Hans Plower, age 37, from Prairieburg, Iowa, was convicted of sexual exploitation of children and possession of child pornography.  

In a plea agreement, Plower admitted that he persuaded, induced, and enticed multiple children to send him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves.  At least two children under the age of 16 did so.  Plower paid the children, sometimes as little as $1, so that they would continue to send him sexually explicit images.  Plower also possessed photographs and videos of child pornography on his phone, including images of sadistic or masochistic conduct. 

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.”

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Plower remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Plower faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 50 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, $77,200 in special assessments, and a life of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.  

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

The case file number is 24-CR-91.

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