Stratton Man Convicted of Producing Child Pornography

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Anthony James "AJ" Horton, 46, formerly of Stratton, Nebraska, was sentenced on October 21, 2015, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 28 years in prison by United States Senior District Judge Richard G. Kopf, for production of child pornography.  After serving his prison sentence Horton will also be required to serve 10 years on supervised release and continue to register as a sex offender.  Horton had been previously convicted of sexual assault of a child in Colorado in 1995 and was already required to register as a sex offender.  The sentence handed down today will run concurrently with any future state prison sentence imposed upon Horton by the District Court of Hitchcock County for state charges to which Horton has pleaded guilty, including an unrelated sexual assault in Hitchcock County.   In addition to the prison term, the Court ordered the forfeiture to the United States of 25 items of computer and surveillance equipment used by Horton in the commission of the illegal activity.

In October, 2014, based on numerous reports of sexual assaults and illegal drug activity, investigators executed a search warrant at Horton's residence in Stratton, Hitchcock County, Nebraska.  During the execution of that search warrant, various items of computer and camera equipment were located.  A later forensic examination of that equipment revealed numerous videos of sexually explicit conduct that Horton had produced of himself and a minor victim.  Horton pleaded guilty to manufacturing child pornography between April 1, 2013 and September 1, 2013 in the District of Nebraska. 

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 and the CODE Drug Task Force.