Austin Kingsbury, Child Pornography Distribution and Possession, Iowa 2025

Austin Kingsbury, a 23-year-old man from Tripoli, Iowa, has pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing child pornography in federal court in Cedar Rapids. The guilty plea was made on Friday, June 20, 2025, in a hearing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams.

According to the evidence presented, between August 2022 and June 2023, Kingsbury distributed visual depictions of child pornography. Additionally, between December 2022 and June 2023, he possessed child pornography, including images of prepubescent children, on his cellular telephone.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project is led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, which marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Kingsbury faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, $62,200 in special assessments, and a lifetime term of supervised release following any imprisonment. He remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, the Tripoli, Iowa Police Department, the Bremer County, Iowa Sheriff’s Office, the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Police Department, the Anchorage, Alaska Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers Technical Crimes Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Devra T. Hake and Dillan Edwards.

Kingsbury’s sentencing will be set after a presentence report is prepared. In the meantime, he will remain in custody pending the outcome of the case. The case file number is 24-CR-2049, and court file information can be accessed at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa can be followed on X at @USAO_NDIA for updates on the case and other news related to law enforcement and justice in the region.

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