A man who sexually exploited a child and possessed child pornography was sentenced on July 23, 2019, to 40 years in federal prison.
John Hunt, age 35, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, received the sentence after an Oct. 18, 2018, guilty plea to one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. In a plea agreement, Hunt admitted that, between 2015 and 2017, he used, persuaded, induced, and enticed a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct to produce visual depictions, and that he threatened to distribute depictions of the minor. In the plea agreement, Hunt also admitted to possessing child pornography, including depictions of prepubescent children.
Hunt was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Hunt was sentenced to 480 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $200 was imposed, and Hunt must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Cedar Rapids Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 18-69.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
