JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Ames, Iowa sex offender was indicted by a federal grand jury today on child sexual exploitation charges.
John Jordan Lundberg, 30, of Ames, was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Lundberg on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017.
Lundberg was convicted on Sept. 15, 2017 for enticement of a minor for indecent purposes. Lundberg, who was granted a deferred judgment and placed on probation for three years, was arrested on Oct. 10, 2016 at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino during an undercover operation when he responded to a Craigslist advertisement and arranged a sexual encounter with a (fictitious) 15-year-old female.
The federal indictment alleges that Lundberg attempted to produce child pornography on Sept. 25, 2017. The indictment also charges Lundberg with transferring obscene material to a person who he believed was under the age of 16 on Sept. 25, 2017.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Lundberg responded to an online advertisement that was posted by an undercover Boone County Sheriff’s Department detective in an effort to seek out potential sexual predators. The undercover officer posed as a mother offering her 13-year-old daughter for sex. The undercover officer also posed as the 13-year-old daughter, the affidavit says, and Lundberg communicated with the “daughter" via text message. Lundberg allegedly sent the “daughter" sexually explicit photos and video of himself and of others. Lundberg allegedly encouraged the “daughter" to send him nude photos of herself.
Larson cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
Project Safe Childhood
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 and click on the tab "resources."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
