Hershey Woman Sentenced to 9 Years for Distributing Child Pornography

Rayanne Paulman, 35, of Hershey, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court in Lincoln for conspiring to distribute child pornography.  The Honorable Richard G. Kopf, Senior United States District Court Judge, sentenced Paulman to 9 years of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.  After her release from prison, Paulman will begin a ten-year term of supervised release.

Paulman sent a number of sexually explicit images of prepubescent children over Facebook Messenger.  A search warrant was executed at her residence on December 11, 2015.  Forensic analysis of her digital devices revealed 6 videos of child pornography.  Paulman distributed some of these images with her boyfriend.  In addition to the images, text messages were recovered.  Those messages involved discussions about the child pornography exchanged between Paulman and her boyfriend.  Other messages discussed certain children known to the two of them that they could sexually abuse.

This case was investigated by the North Platte Police Department.

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.