United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Damian Thompson, 37, formerly of Cedar Creek, Nebraska., was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 70 months in prison by United States Senior District Judge Richard G. Kopf, for possession of child pornography. After his release from prison, Thompson will be required to register as a sex offender and serve a term of five years on supervised release.
In April, 2015, the Nebraska City Police Department executed a search warrant at a Nebraska City address. The search warrant was aimed at locating drugs and evidence of drug dealing at that address. During the execution of that search warrant various items were found on the property, including numerous computers and phones. An officer was attempting to shut off one particular computer and, as he did so, an image of child erotica refreshed on the screen. An initial review of the computer uncovered images and videos of child pornography.
In May, 2015, the investigators obtained another search warrant for the computer equipment found at the property, including the items found at the trailer Thompson advised that he resided in. The items were further examined by the Nebraska State Patrol and approximately 6,000 images and videos were found on the numerous devices, including images of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, evidence was found that Thompson accessed the internet to acquire images of child pornography found on the computer items.
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 City Police Department and the Nebraska State Patrol.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
