Grand Island Man Convicted for Receipt of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Steven G. Peterson, 41, formerly of Grand Island, Nebraska, was sentenced On June 11, 2020, in Lincoln, Nebraska, by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for receipt of child pornography. Peterson was sentenced to 90 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release with special conditions, to be concurrent with the undischarged term imposed in Count I of the Superseding Indictment.  He will also be required to register as a sex offender and pay $4,000.00 in restitution.  There is no parole in the federal system. 

On April 24, 2018, a search and seizure warrant was executed at Peterson’s residence in Grand Island, Nebraska for any electronic devices that may contain child pornography.  Numerous devices were seized from his residence.  A forensic examination of the devices were performed and three of the devices belonging to Peterson were found to contain child exploitive materials.  More than 591 image files and 6 videos containing child pornography were discovered on his laptop computer.   The files on the laptop included content portraying the sexual abuse and exploitation of infants or toddlers.

Approximately 328 child exploitive materials were located on Peterson’s tablet device.  The materials on the tablet included videos portraying sadistic sexually explicit acts involving teenagers as well as photographs of children as young as three engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Approximately 53 images and 6 videos displaying child pornography were located on his phone.  The content on the phone included materials portraying children as young as infants engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  The user information for these three devices indicated that they were in the possession and control of Peterson.

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.

This case was investigated by the Grand Island Police Department.