Lincoln Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Frank L. Tonini, 31, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 56 months in prison and ordered to pay $5,000.00 in restitution, by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for possessing child pornography. After serving his prison sentence, Tonini will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

In October of 2015 investigators identified Tonini’s IP address as sharing child pornography and obtained a search warrant for his Lincoln residence. During the execution of the search warrant, Tonini was contacted by investigators and admitted to using his computer to download child pornography. A later forensic exam of his computer revealed at least 200 videos of child pornography.

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 Lincoln Police Department and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.