Omaha Man Sentenced for Distributing Child Pornography

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Gregory Lukassen, 50, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for distribution and receipt of child pornography. The Honorable Brian C. Buescher sentenced Lukassen to 240 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Lukassen will serve 5 years of supervised release. Lukassen was also ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution.

In October, Lukassen was found guilty after a two-day jury trial. The evidence at trial showed that officers contacted Lukassen at a residence in Bellevue, Nebraska, after receiving Cybertip Reports from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) indicating that online service providers had reported uploads of child pornography. Lukassen admitted to chatting online regarding sexual fantasies and claimed to have received child pornography unintentionally during those chats. Forensic examinations of devices seized from Lukassen showed cache and/or thumbnail files of at least 38 unique images of child pornography on the devices, including some of the images reported in the Cybertips.

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 Attorney’s 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 Bellevue Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations..