Douglas Man Sentenced on Child Pornography Charges

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Christopher L. Bohlen, age 51 of Douglas, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court in Omaha for receiving and possessing child pornography.  The Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon sentenced Bohlen to sixty months of imprisonment for receiving child pornography and a concurrent term of one year and one day for possessing child pornography.  There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison Bohlen will begin a five year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender. 

Bohlen was identified as an individual interested in child pornography after the United States Postal Inspection Service noted correspondence to Bohlen from a website offering images of children.  On June 28, 2012, an Investigator from the Postal Inspection Service accompanied by an Investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol approached Bohlen at his home. 

Bohlen provided the investigators with verbal consent to search his computers for child pornography.  He rescinded his consent after telling investigators that there was child pornography on each of his computers. 

A federal search warrant was obtained for the contents of the computes.  Approximately 47,000 image files of child pornography and child erotica were found on the computers.  The child pornography included prepubescent children ranging from 2 to 12 years of age involved in sexual and sadomasochistic conduct.

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg expressed her appreciation to the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Nebraska State Patrol for their investigation. 

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys= Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.