Dubuque Man Who Possessed Over 25,000 Images of Child Pornography Sentenced to Federal Prison

Collection included images and videos of children as young as infants and toddlers

A Dubuque man who possessed over 25,000 images of child pornography was sentenced today to 139 months in prison.

Mark Curtis, Jr., age 37, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography.   

Information disclosed at his court hearing today showed that between August 2017 and August 2018, Curtis, Jr. used terms commonly associated with child pornography to search for images and videos of child pornography on the internet.  Curtis, Jr. downloaded a number of images and videos to his cellular telephone.  Curtis, Jr. then moved some of these images and videos to a Dropbox account.  In total, Curtis possessed over 25,800 images.  The images depicted minors that ranged in age from infants to pre-teens.  Some videos and images involved infants and toddlers engaged in sexual acts.  Curtis, Jr. has no criminal history.     

Curtis, Jr. was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams.  Curtis, Jr. was sentenced to 139 months’ imprisonment.  He was ordered to make payment of $200 to the special assessment fund.  He must also serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ashley Corkery and investigated by the Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office.  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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”