A Melvin, Iowa, man was sentenced to federal prison for child pornography convictions following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, according to a Feb. 28 news release.
According to the release, Johnny E. Gutierrez, 21, plead guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography in April. He reportedly admitted to possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct between February 2016 and November 2019. He also admitted to distributing files of child pornography to other individuals.
Investigators uncovered approximately 51 images and 26 videos of child pornography from Gutierrez’s computer and approximately 38 images from his cell phone.
He was sentenced in Sioux City by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand to 48 months in prison and must pay a total of $3,000 in restitution. Following his release from prison, Gutierrez will also serve a 5-year term of supervised release.
Gutierrez is currently in the custody of U.S. federal marshals until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The investigation was conducted under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice to address the increasing problem of child exploitation across the nation. Project Safe Childhood leverages resources from federal, state and local levels to prosecute criminals and rescue victims.
