Richard Knott, Jr., Child Pornography, Nebraska 2021

A Minatare man has been sentenced to 150 months in prison for his role in receiving and possessing child pornography, according to court documents.

Richard Knott, Jr., 35, was sentenced on [date] in Lincoln, Nebraska, by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard for possession of child pornography. Knott was also ordered to serve 10 years on supervised release after completing his prison sentence.

The case began with an investigation into the sharing of child pornography on a specific foreign-based cloud storage website. The investigation primarily concerned two hyperlinks which contained folders and subfolders of child pornography primarily depicting infants and toddlers.

The forensic download and review of Knott's cellphone and other devices were determined to contain approximately 33,000 images and 7,000 videos of child pornography. Knott admitted to viewing and downloading child pornography again after his release from prison in 2012 for a prior child pornography crime.

Knott was also ordered to pay $4,000 to a fund designated for victims of this type of crime. After serving his prison sentence, Knott will continue to be required to register as a sex offender.

The 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 federal government. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 2012, Knott was previously convicted in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, for possessing child pornography. The investigation for this case began on [date] with a federal search warrant executed on Knott's home. Two of Knott's cellphones, a hard drive, and 5 laptop computers were seized during the execution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ne/pr/minatare-man-sentenced-receiving-child-pornography