United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Joshua James Just, 39, formerly of Funk, Nebraska, was sentenced on Jan. 20, 2017, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 66 months in prison by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for possession of child pornography. After serving his prison sentence Just will be required to serve an additional 7 years on supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender and pay a $1,000.00 fine.
In March of 2015, while reviewing data for a peer-to-peer investigation, an investigator with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office observed an IP address with child pornography files available for sharing. Further investigation determined that the physical location and subscriber of the internet service was Joshua Just at his residence in Funk, Phelps County, Nebraska. In December, 2014, investigators made a direct connection with this same IP address and downloaded several digital files. One such file, which was 10 minutes, 2 seconds in length, depicted minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct as defined by federal law. Investigators also viewed two additional files which were made available for sharing, both of which contained similar images of child pornography involving prepubescent minors.
A search warrant was executed on Just’s residence and items of computer equipment were seized. The examination of Just’s computer revealed more than 22,761 videos and image files, 209 of which were categorized as “files of interest" related to past child pornography investigations.
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 Attorney General’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
