(Sioux City, Iowa) – A man from northwest Iowa’s Woodbury County was sentenced to federal prison, Friday, for Possession of Child Pornography. 46-year-old Joshua Pedersen, from Moville, Iowa, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. He was also fined a total of $5,000.  Pedersen must also serve a 5-year term of supervised released following the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

The U-S Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa said evidence in the case established that between November 2018, and December 2019, Pedersen used Internet-based, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks “Kik” and “Skout” to knowingly receive and distribute child pornography.  Pedersen also admitted he distributed child pornography to a minor to persuade the minor to create and send him child pornography.  Pedersen has a prior conviction for Dissemination and Exhibition of Obscene Materials to Minors, and multiple convictions for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender.

Th 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. And, for more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.” The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.