Andrew Scott Scanlan, 33, formerly of Newton, Iowa, has been sentenced to 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges, according to a March 11 news release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

Court documents reveal Scanlan victimized a nine-year-old child on three occasions spanning Sept. 2, 2020-Jan. 21, 2021. Scanlan reportedly coerced the victim to perform sex acts and record videos on his cell phone. At the time of these offenses, Scanlan was required to register as a sex offender. He also reportedly took pornographic photos of a four-year-old victim in early 2021.

In addition to the photos and videos Scanlan took of the two victims, investigators found "additional depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit content" Scanlan got from the internet. Following the completion of his sentence for two counts of production of child pornography and one count of offense by a registered sex offender, Scanlan will see supervised release for 10 years and will be required to register as a sex offender.

The case was prosecuted as part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which was started in 2006 to combat the exploitation of children. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Newton Police Department and the Jasper County Attorney’s Office.

Homeland Security Investigations is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is the main investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.