Christopher Groth, Child Pornography, Nebraska 2024

A former Omaha police officer has been sentenced to 36 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography.

Christopher Groth, 39, of Gretna, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 16, 2024, by Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Groth’s sentence includes 432 months in prison and 20 years on supervised release, with no parole available in the federal system. He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 special assessment, which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes.

The investigation into Groth’s crimes began in February 2022, when the Federal Bureau of Investigation received several cyber tips from Yahoo! indicating that Groth was uploading child pornography onto his email accounts.

A search warrant was executed, and it was determined that several of the images located on the account were likely original productions created by Groth involving a child, which depicted sexually explicit conduct.

A review of Groth’s devices and accounts conducted by the FBI revealed eight images which were produced by Groth on two occasions in 2020 involving a single child victim. Groth emailed these images to himself in February 2021 as a method of saving the files. A search of Groth’s phone and email account revealed more than 700 child exploitation files depicting other unidentified children, which he appeared to receive online and subsequently saved using his email account.

‘No one is above the law,’ said Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr. ‘Mr. Groth’s crime was committed against the most vulnerable of our society, a child. The sentence imposed by Judge Gerrard reflects the seriousness of Groth’s conduct and hopefully acts as a deterrent for others.’

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

Groth was a police officer with the Omaha Police Department at the time of his arrest, and was removed from his position without incident.

Related Federal Cases