U.S. Attorney Susan T. Lehr | U.S. Department of Justice
Marty B. Jay Johnson, a 44-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, has been sentenced to 90 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography. This sentencing was announced by United States Attorney Susan T. Lehr on December 12, 2024. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. presided over the case in Omaha, Nebraska. Following his prison term, Johnson will undergo five years of supervised release and is required to pay $80,000 in restitution to twenty victims.
The investigation commenced after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a "cyber tip" about suspicious online activity linked to Johnson's IP address. The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) acted on this information and discovered that between April 27 and August 3, 2021, Johnson had uploaded files containing child pornography to Kik, an instant messaging app.
On March 22, 2022, NSP executed a search warrant at Johnson’s residence. Investigators confiscated sixteen devices which were found to contain more than 7,000 artifacts of child pornography including over 6,700 image files and 285 videos with content ranging from images of infants and toddlers to children engaged in acts of bestiality and sadism.
The case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at addressing child sexual exploitation and abuse. This program utilizes resources from federal, state, and local agencies to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
