Iowans convicted in federal child pornography cases get 25 year prison sentences

Two Iowa men were each sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for making and possessing child pornography.

Jason Kinman, 40, of Council Bluffs pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography and coercion and enticement of a minor and was sentenced Sept. 20. In July 2021 a family member found Kinman with a 13-year-old girl in the backseat of a car, according to a news release. Kinman drove “several hours” to meet the girl, according to sentencing documents.

Officers found that Kinman used social media accounts to talk to several underage girls in an inappropriate sexual manner; he requested nude photos or videos of the underage girls and sent sexually explicit photos of himself, according to a news release, which said other pornographic images of minors were found on electronic devices at Kinman’s home. He will be on supervised release for 10 years after his release from prison.

Jacob Bermel, 39, of Muscatine, was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison. Bermel pleaded guilty to charges of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography on May 23.

He used the social media platform MeWe to connect with underage girls, according to court documents. Bermel hid a camera in the bathroom of his house and made recordings that contained child pornography, according to a news release, which said he then uploaded those videos to the internet.

Bermel also downloaded and uploaded child pornography from the internet and social media accounts and had explicit images of children on his laptop dating back to July 2012, according to a sentencing memorandum.

Philip Joens covers public safety and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa men sentenced to 25 years in prison in federal child porn cases