United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Colin C. Gierke, 25, of Waverly, Nebraska was sentenced today in Lincoln by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for receipt of child pornography. Gierke was sentenced to 5 years and 8 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Additionally, Gierke was ordered to pay $1,500 in special assessments which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes.
This case began with a Nov. 21, 2019, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) cyber tip report indicating that a Dropbox account, later identified as being owned and operated by Gierke, contained suspected child pornography. A search warrant was executed on Feb. 12, 2020. During the execution of the search warrant, Gierke admitted to viewing and downloading files containing child pornography and that it would be found on his devices. Forensic examination of Gierke’s devices revealed several file folders containing child pornography, including at least 55 images and 4 videos. An examination was also completed of Gierke’s Dropbox account, which revealed that he uploaded 433 images and 220 videos containing child pornography onto the account.
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 State Patrol.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
