A 32-year-old Iowa man was sentenced to 210 months in prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release for numerous offenses surrounding the enticement of a minor, according to a release from the Department of Justice.
Nicholas Bryan Swank of Muscatine pleaded guilty in July 2021 to offenses that included traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct and soliciting an obscene visual depiction of a minor. Court documents, according to the release, detailed how Swank began communicating online with someone he believed to be 15 years old. He arranged to meet with the intended victim and asked for explicit photos. Swank then traveled from Muscatine, Iowa, to Rock Island, Illinois, where he was arrested by federal agents and local law enforcement, who were monitoring his activities.
“The United States Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting those who seek to sexually exploit children,” U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris said in the release. “These are serious crimes that inflict great harm on some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and they merit serious sentences. We also urge parents and guardians to remain vigilant and monitor their children’s online activities.”
When Swank was arrested he was under the supervision of the court for previous convictions of theft, third-degree domestic abuse assault with strangulation and two separate instances of a violation of sex offender registry requirements. Swank had remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals since his arrest in November 2020.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sara Darrow imposed concurrent 210-month sentences of imprisonment on each count. In pronouncing Swank’s sentence, Darrow commented on the real danger Swank posed to the community and noted her hope that his sentence would deter others from engaging in the same conduct.
Swank’s arrest was a result of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Project Safe Childhood is led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and aided by 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.
“The sentence reflects the serious nature of the offense and acts as tangible proof of our commitment to safeguard the children in our communities,” David Nanz, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Springfield office said. “The FBI appreciates our collaborative law enforcement partnerships as we work together to stop those who seek to harm our children.”
