Former North Platte Man Convicted for Transportation of Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Nathanael J. Brown, 28, formerly of North Platte, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln by Chief United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for transportation of child pornography. Brown was sentenced to 6 years and 6 months in prison and 7 years of supervised release with special conditions. There is no parole in the federal system. Brown was additionally ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution.

This case began when Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) in Nebraska received a cybertip indicating that Kik user “antin5” (later identified as Brown) uploaded a child pornography file on April 29, 2019. On February 26, 2020, HSI and Nebraska State Patrol (“NSP”) agents conducted a knock and talk at Brown’s home in North Platte. Brown admitted to law enforcement that he viewed child pornography. Brown said that he used his phone and laptop to browse and download child pornography content, but that he never really saved the files. He also admitted to sharing both image and video content. He admitted sharing content as recent as the week before speaking with law enforcement. Brown gave law enforcement written consent to search his cell phone. A review of Brown’s cell phone revealed at least six (6) videos of child pornography, as well as 31 images containing possible or suspected child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Nebraska State Patrol.