Ida Grove Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

Scott Allen Tomlinson, 49, from Ida Grove, Iowa, was sentenced April 18, 2024, to 10 years in federal prison for Possession of Child Pornography.

Evidence in the case established that between September 1, 2021, and February 23, 2022, Tomlinson possessed child pornography and used a cellular phone to access the images on the cloud. Law Enforcement recovered dozens of images from Tomlinson's cloud-based storage system. These images included material that portrayed sadistic and masochistic conduct. Evidence at the sentencing hearing established that Tomlinson engaged in a pattern of activity involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of a minor.

Tomlinson was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Tomlinson was sentenced to 120 months' imprisonment and ordered to pay $2,600 in fines and assessments. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

Tomlinson is being held in the United States Marshal's custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, 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 United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."

The case was investigated by State of Iowa Department of Public Safety and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 22-CR-04904.

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