Todd Techen Sentenced

Todd Techen, a 22-year-old man from Ashton, Iowa, has been sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for distributing child pornography. Techen pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography on April 17, 2014, and was sentenced on July 17, 2014.

According to the plea agreement, Techen admitted to knowingly distributing child pornography between 2012 and January 2013. The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett in Sioux City.

Techen was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment, and a special assessment of $100 was imposed. In addition to his prison term, Techen must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release and comply with all sex offender registration and public notification requirements.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. This 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.

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. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 13-4079. This sentence serves as a reminder of the serious consequences of distributing child pornography and the commitment of law enforcement agencies to protecting children from exploitation.

The investigation and prosecution of this case demonstrate the importance of collaborative efforts between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in combating child sexual exploitation. The public is encouraged to report any suspected cases of child exploitation to the authorities, and to visit the Project Safe Childhood website for more information on how to prevent and report child sexual exploitation.