Lincoln man sentenced to 13 years for child porn
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Child pornography charge sends Lincoln man to prison for 13 years.
U.S. Attorney Steven Russell said 50-year-old Aaron Joseph Kearney, of Lincoln, was sentenced on Jan. 20. He was convicted for possession of child pornography and will serve 13 years in prison with 10 years of supervised release after. There is no parole in the federal system. Kearney will also have to pay $3,000 in restitution to a victim, and $5,000 in special assessments. Kearney pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2022.
According to court documents, agents with the Department of Homeland Security in Phoenix, Ariz., were investigating an account on an instant messaging platform that had received child pornography. They got information about other accounts interacting with the account that was under investigation in Phoenix, and which were exchanging child pornography material.
Officials said one of the accounts belonged to Kearney and he posted messages on Aug. 26, 2021, requesting child pornography material. Kearney’s account posted six videos on Aug. 29, 2021, that showed minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and three of the videos containing prepubescent children.
Authorities said, agents with Homeland Security Investigations in Nebraska got a search warrant for Kearney’s home in Lincoln. The warrant was used on Jan. 27, 2022, and they took Kearney’s cellphone along with other items. Kearney was home during the search and confessed that the account in question was his and that he had used it to find child pornography.
According to court documents, Kearney’s phone had two videos showing minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct along with three apps installed on his phone that are used to clean and delete files from the device.
Officials said Kearney was previously convicted on April 7, 2008, for possession of child pornography.