Omaha Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

Acting United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced that Matthew G. Garabrandt, 30, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for possession of child pornography.  Garabrandt was sentenced to 4 years in prison and will also serve 5 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.  After serving his prison sentence, Garabrandt will also be required to register as a sex offender.

In October, 2015, a concerned citizen reported to Greene County Sheriff’s Office in Iowa that her ex-boyfriend had child pornography on his cellular phone.  The investigators obtained a search warrant for the telephone and his residence in Scranton, Iowa.  During the execution of the search warrant of that residence, the Sheriff’s Office seized two additional cellular telephones and a computer.  Forensic examination of those cell phones led investigators to a phone number, later identified to belong to Garabrandt and the Federal Bureau of Investigation was informed.

In June, 2016, agents of the FBI interviewed Garabrandt at his residence in Omaha, Nebraska.  Garabrandt admitted to sending and receiving child pornography and also admitted to downloading child pornography from a web forum.  Investigators found approximately 15 images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct as defined by federal law during the forensic examination of the computer equipment seized from the Iowa residence that were sent by Garabrandt. 

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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.justice.gov/psc.

This case was investigated by the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.