Tipton Man Sentenced to 50 Years in Federal Prison for Producing Child Pornography

A man who produced child pornography involving a prepubescent child and traded child pornography with others was sentenced on September 19, 2018, to 50 years in federal prison.

Christian Hansen, age 40, of Tipton, Iowa, received the sentence after a March 23, 2018, jury verdict finding him guilty of one count of sexual exploitation of a child, one count of sexually exploiting a child while being required to register as a sex offender, one count of distribution of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and five counts of possession of child pornography.

The evidence at trial showed that in July 2017, Hansen took photos of a prepubescent child’s genital area and e-mailed the photos to others.  Hansen also traded child pornography, including the child pornography he produced, with others and possessed child pornography on multiple electronic devices.  At the time of these offenses, Hansen was required to register as a sex offender based on his 2011 Nebraska convictions for three counts of possession of child pornography.

Hansen was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by Chief United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Hansen was sentenced to 600 months’ imprisonment.  A special assessment of $900 was imposed, Hansen was ordered to pay over $32,500 in victim restitution, and he 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 Homeland Security Investigations, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Tipton Police Department, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

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.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.  The case file number is CR 17-99.

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