Omaha Man Sentenced for Distribution of Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Brandon Lanza, Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for distribution of child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Lanza to 132 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison, Lanza will serve 10 years of supervised release.

In September 2019, law enforcement began investigating Cybertip Reports from Discord and Facebook stating that a user had distributed child pornography in chats with other users. The chats included discussions of plans to sexually abuse specific children. The suspect was identified as Lanza and the IP address utilized for the child pornography uploads was associated with Lanza’s apartment in Omaha. The children being discussed were known to Lanza through his personal life. Investigators also observed that the Discord and Facebook user sometimes logged on from an IP address associated with Omaha Public Schools, where Lanza was employed as an IT/Network Administrator.

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 Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.