Eldridge Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Child Pornography Charge

DAVENPORT, IA – Nicholas Robert Walker-Bennett, age 33 of Eldridge, was sentenced on Monday, September 26, 2022, to 180 months in prison following his plea to a charge of Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography. Walker-Bennett was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of his fourteen victims, totaling $42,000.

According to court documents, a cybertip received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children traced back to Walker-Bennett. Walker-Bennett admitted to using a social media application for the exchange of child pornography. Further investigation also revealed that Walker-Bennett engaged in similar conduct for over eleven years, taking many steps to conceal his crime by setting up numerous email addresses.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.