United States Attorney Susan T. Lehr announced that Marty B. Jay Johnson, a 44-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, was sentenced on December 12, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska. Johnson received a sentence of 90 months for possession of child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr., presided over the sentencing.
Following his prison term, Johnson will be under supervised release for five years and has been ordered to pay $80,000 in restitution to twenty victims identified in connection with his crimes.
The investigation into Johnson began with a "cyber tip" received by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) regarding suspicious internet activity. NCMEC's report indicated that between April 27 and August 3, 2021, twenty-four files containing child pornography were uploaded from Johnson’s IP address to Kik, an instant messaging app.
On March 22, 2022, the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) executed a search warrant at Johnson's residence. Sixteen devices were seized and examined forensically. This examination uncovered over 7,000 artifacts of child pornography across various devices. The findings included more than 6,700 image files and 285 videos depicting child pornography.
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. It involves collaboration among federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
The investigation was conducted by the Nebraska State Patrol.