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Press Release

Omaha Man Sentenced for Attempted Sexual Exploitation of a Child

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that John C. Shores, Jr., age 55, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced on August 23, 2024, in federal court in Omaha for attempted sexual exploitation of a child. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Shores to 240 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Shores’ release from prison, he will begin a 20-year term of supervised release. Shores was also ordered to pay $7,600 in special assessments as part of his sentence.  

In pronouncing his sentence, Chief Judge Rossiter told Shores “I don’t discount what you’ve done with the community in the light, but what you’ve done here was in the dark.”

From August 4, 2023, through August 10, 2023, Shores used his cell phone to engage in an online conversation via the chat application Whisper and text messages with an undercover officer who was purporting to be a 13-year-old girl. During the conversations, Shores asked who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl to exchange naked and sexually explicit pictures for the purpose of masturbation. Shores also sent sexually explicit images to the other user.

On August 10, 2023, Shores made arrangements to meet with who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl and arrived at the meeting location in Omaha as arranged. Law enforcement contacted Shores and seized four cell phones from Shore’s vehicle. Forensic examinations of Shore’s cell phones revealed numerous sexually explicit online conversations to include conversations with individuals claiming to be as young as 11 years old. In one conversation, occurring primarily between July 7, 2020, and July 27, 2020, Shores contacted and conversed with 13-year-old female who resided in southeastern Nebraska. 

This case was investigated by law enforcement agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office as part of the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

Contact

Lecia Wright - Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney  (402) 661-3700                                                                         

Updated August 26, 2024