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MINNEAPOLIS MAN SENTENCED FOR DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
A 51-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography, the court heard today in St. Paul. United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank handed down the sentence to Robert Andrew Gozola on March 31, 2023, following his guilty plea on August 22, 2012. Gozola was indicted on May 8, 2012 for one count of distribution of child pornography.
According to court records, Gozola admitted to sending images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to an undercover police officer over a peer-to-peer file-sharing program on November 23, 2011. In addition, Gozola confessed to possessing more than 6,000 similar images on his computer, some of which included sadistic or masochistic content. The computer, on which Gozola had installed a peer-to-peer program, was seized during the execution of a state search warrant at his residence on January 19, 2012.
This case was the result of an investigation by the Minnesota Cybercrime Task Force, which includes the Minneapolis Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Calhoun-Lopez.
Distributing child pornography is against the law. In addition to prosecuting these cases, the Justice Department is presently funding a study focused on the correlation between involvement in child pornography and hands-on sexual abuse of children. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Family Violence found that up to 80 percent of federal inmates incarcerated for possession, receipt, or distribution of child pornography also admitted to hands-on sexual abuse of children, ranging from touching to rape.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children and identify and rescue victims.
In a statement, the Justice Department emphasized the importance of protecting children from exploitation. “This sentence serves as a reminder that we will vigorously prosecute those who exploit and harm our children,” the department said. “We will continue to work with our partners to bring perpetrators to justice and ensure that our children are safe from harm.”
Key Facts
- State: Minnesota
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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