Nebraska Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Robert C. Stuart announced that Bobby Joe Ansley, 38, of Mullen, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 120 months in prison by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for possession of child pornography.  After his release from prison, Ansley will also serve 12 years of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

In February 2016, the Nebraska State Patrol began receiving Cyber Tips from Google regarding images of sexually explicit conduct involving minors being attached to emails from email addresses associated with Ansley.  These emails were sent from email accounts associated with Ansley in January 2016.  In August 2016, a third-party informed officers about electronic devices Ansley owned. The person also identified some of the email addresses referenced in the Cyber Tips as being used by Ansley. Based on the Cyber Tips and information provided by the third-party, the State Patrol obtained a Search warrant for Ansley’s residence in Mullen, Nebraska.  Officers found the external hard drive and paperwork containing the password for the device.  NSP found 1,950 identified images of sexually explicit conduct involving minors, as defined by federal law, on Ansley’s hard drive.  These included images of child pornography involving prepubescent minors who had not attained 12 years of age.  Further investigation revealed that the minors in the images were identified as living outside the state of Nebraska and that the images were produced outside the state of Nebraska and shipped or transported to Nebraska. Ansley was previously convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the Southern District of California on October 2, 2003.

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 Nebraska State Patrol.