United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced the Cory Proplesch, 29, of La Vista, Nebraska, was sentenced in federal court on July 24, 2020 for Cyberstalking and Possession of Child Pornography. United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Proplesch to concurrent terms of 60 months for cyberstalking and 135 months for possession of child pornography. There is no parole in the federal system. After he completes his sentence, Proplesch will begin a five-year term of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Proplesch targeted a 17-year-old high school student in May, 2018. He used an alias to send threatening Snapchat messages seeking sexually explicit photos. Proplesch requested that the girl excuse herself from class, go to the restroom, and send him nude photographs. He told her he knew where she lived and would sexually assault her if she refused. She went to the police.
The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force searched Proplesch’s apartment in September, 2018. Proplesch admitted to the Snapchat messages sent to the high school student. Investigators located 13 videos and 278 images of child pornography. Included in the videos were two 14-year-old minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in Proplesch’s apartment. Proplesch used a security camera to record the activity before transmitting it to a thumb drive.
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 Omaha FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
