Lincoln Man Sentenced for Receiving Child Pornography

United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Cody J. Behrens, 40, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 9, 2022, in Lincoln by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for receipt of child pornography.  Behrens was sentenced to 60 months in prison and will also serve 5 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.  After serving his prison sentence, Behrens will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

In August of 2019, the Nebraska States Patrol received two cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). NCMEC is the national clearinghouse for child exploitation material and reports under federal law.  According to the cybertips, an internet search engine became aware of 26 image files of suspected child pornography associated with an online email account registered to Behrens.  Additional information, including IP addresses, a phone number, and a secondary email address related to the account were also provided to NCMEC.

Investigators traced several IP addresses to the internet provider and subsequently to the subscriber on the account.  Additional information determined that the subscriber using the IP addresses on the dates in question was associated with the Behrens’s residence in Lincoln. 

A search warrant was served on Behrens’s residence and his cellular phone was seized.  Forensic examination revealed 63 images and 3 videos of child pornography on the phone.  A number of these images and videos were the same as those uploaded to the email account.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.