Mason City Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Thomas Alan Newman, from Mason City, Iowa, who received, distributed, and possessed images of child pornography was sentenced on April 25, 2024, to 6 years in federal prison.

Newman, age 60, from Swaledale, Iowa, received the prison term after an October 18, 2023, guilty plea to Possession of Child Pornography.

Evidence at the hearing showed that in May 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report from Facebook of a user trafficking in child pornography.  Pursuant to a search warrant, the content of Newman’s account was provided to law enforcement.  The content included several chats of a sexual nature where Newman solicited child pornography from others.  Newman and another individual proposed they create a group on Facebook in order to share and trade child pornography.  When interviewed by agents, Newman admitted to the activity associated with the NCMEC CyperTip report as well as sharing and receiving child pornography that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or the sexual abuse and exploitation of an infant or toddler.  Newman admitted he shared approximately 50 videos of child pornography.

Newman was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Newman was sentenced to 72 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a total of $30,000 in fines and assessments.  He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term and register as a sex offender.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Newman is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

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.”

The case is being was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 23-CR-3016.

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