North Liberty man sentenced to 25 years for producing, distributing child pornography
A federal judge sentenced Jacob Preuschl, of North Liberty, to 25 years in prison for producing and distributing child pornography.
He also will serve seven years of supervised release and pay $10,000 to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act and $3,000 to the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act.
Preuschl pleaded guilty in August to one count of production of child pornography and one count of transferring obscene materials to minors.
According to court documents, Preuschl, who was 27 at the time, began communicating with the victim, a 13-year-old female, on Snapchat in April 2021. He pressured the victim to send nude photos of herself, court documents say.
The victim's mother called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s tipline that August after finding sexually explicit content between her daughter and Preuschl.
After seizing his cell phone, law enforcement discovered Preuschl had communicated with other minors on Snapchat and had acquired child pornography through another online app.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger sentenced Preuschl on Wednesday.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal, who prosecuted the case, recommended he serve up to 30 years in prison. Preuschl's attorney, Eric Tindal, requested 15 years in prison and his client receive sex offense-specific treatment, which is a condition of his supervised release.
According to a news release, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa prosecuted the case as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.
Anyone with knowledge of child sex abuse is asked to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.
George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at (319) 214-5039, GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Federal judge sentences Jacob Preuschl on child pornography charges
