Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Gladbrook man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography. John Thomas Carstensen, 50, received the sentence after pleading guilty on November 12, 2024, to one count of receipt of child pornography.
In his plea agreement, Carstensen admitted to knowingly receiving depictions of minors in sexually explicit conduct between August 2021 and August 2022. He has a past felony conviction from 1993 for sexual exploitation of a minor.
Carstensen received his sentence from United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. He was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution to the victims. After his prison term, Carstensen will serve a five-year supervised release. Federal sentences do not include parole.
This case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative started in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. The project aims to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. It combines resources from federal, state, and local levels to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children and to identify and rescue victims.
Carstensen is currently in the custody of the United States Marshal until he is transferred to a federal prison.
The prosecution was led by Assistant United States Attorney Adam J. Vander Stoep. The investigation was conducted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Task Force.
