(DES MOINES, Iowa) – On February 2, 2018, Scott Jacob Smith, age 33, of Indianola, appeared before United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose and was sentenced to 235 months in prison following a jury trial where he was found guilty of receipt of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography. According to evidence presented at trial, a search warrant was executed at Smith’s residence in Indianola on August 1, 2013, and his computer was seized by law enforcement. A subsequent forensic examination of Smith’s computer showed he received and possessed images containing child pornography.

This investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation – Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, United States Marshals Service, Indianola Police Department, and Iowa Department of Human Services. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the United States Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Child” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.

Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.

–This story was submitted as a news release provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Iowa.