Rindels Gets 12 Years for Child Porn: Repeat Offender

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Forrest Rindels, 69, of Waterloo, Iowa, will spend the next twelve years behind bars after being sentenced Friday for possessing horrific images of child pornography. Chief Judge C.J. Williams of the United States District Court delivered the 144-month sentence, a harsh but warranted penalty for a man already convicted of the same sickening crime.

Rindels pleaded guilty on March 6, 2025, to two counts of possession of child pornography. Court documents reveal that between 2021 and 2022, Rindels knowingly stored and viewed these images on a tablet and a micro-SD card. This wasn’t a first offense; Rindels was previously convicted of receiving child pornography in the Northern District of Iowa back in 2016. The system failed to protect potential victims the first time, and Rindels exploited that failure.

The sentence isn’t just about imprisonment. Judge Williams also ordered Rindels to pay $42,000 in restitution to the 14 identified victims depicted in the depraved material he possessed. While no amount of money can undo the harm caused, it’s a small step toward accountability. After serving his prison term, Rindels will face a five-year term of supervised release – a period where his movements and activities will be closely monitored. Unlike state systems, there is no parole in the federal system; Rindels will serve every minute of his sentence.

Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel spearheaded the prosecution, with crucial investigative work conducted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and the Waterloo Police Department. These dedicated officers worked tirelessly to uncover the evidence and bring Rindels to justice. The Grimy Times commends their commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society.

This case was brought forward under Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to aggressively combat the escalating epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project pools resources from federal, state, and local agencies to not only prosecute predators but also to rescue victims and provide them with the support they desperately need. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.usdoj.gov/psc.

Court file information, including case number CR 24-2055, is publicly available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. Follow the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa on X (formerly Twitter) at @USAO_NDIA for further updates on federal crime investigations and prosecutions in the region.