Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
A Tiffin, Iowa man has been sentenced to 37 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to sexually exploit a child and possession of child pornography. Benjamin Paul Egli, age 30, received the sentence following his December 17, 2024 guilty plea.
According to evidence presented at sentencing, Egli participated in Snapchat and video calls with his paramour, who lived in another state, during multiple occasions in 2023. During some of these calls while Egli was in North Liberty, Iowa, he directed his paramour to engage in sexually explicit conduct with her toddler child and recorded the acts. His paramour also sent him photographs and videos depicting herself and her toddler engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Additionally, Egli possessed hundreds of images of child pornography involving children performing sexual acts on animals as well as sadistic and masochistic content.
Egli was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams in Cedar Rapids. He received a sentence of 444 months’ imprisonment and was ordered to pay $6,000 in restitution. Upon release from prison, he will serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole available in the federal system.
“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,” according to information provided by officials. Further details about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.usdoj.gov/psc.
Egli remains held by the United States Marshal’s Service until he is transported to a federal prison.
The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake. The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Tipton Police Department, and Joint Forensic Analysis Cyber Team.
