Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
Daniel Kaler, a 38-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on September 8, 2025, in federal court to possessing child pornography.
During the plea hearing, Kaler admitted that between November 2023 and October 2024 he received and possessed more than 7,000 images and videos depicting child pornography. The material included content involving sadistic or masochistic conduct as well as images of prepubescent children, infants, and toddlers. The investigation began after Verizon’s cloud storage company submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that linked the downloads to Kaler’s account. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Kaler’s electronic devices. Analysis revealed he used third-party browsers “Brave” and “Yandex” to search for and download child pornography.
Kaler was taken into custody by the United States Marshal following his guilty plea and will remain detained until sentencing. Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be scheduled after a presentence report is completed. He faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release if convicted. There is no parole in the federal system.
The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. The program brings together federal, state, and local resources to locate offenders who exploit children online and rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.usdoj.gov/psc.
