Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Joshua Dale Peterson age, 42, from Sioux City, Iowa, pled guilty November 20, 2024, to possession of child pornography.
In a plea agreement, Peterson admitted that from January 1, 2023, until October 18, 2023, he received, distributed, and possessed child pornography. A CyberTip from Snapchat showed that Peterson uploaded a file that contained child pornography. Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for Peterson’s phone and found over 50 photos and videos of child pornography. Law enforcement spoke to Peterson, and he admitted he would meet people on Snapchat and move conversations to Telegram. Peterson also admitted he sent child pornography to a user on Snapchat on at least five different occasions. The Snapchat user later identified themselves as a minor child and Snapchat terminated the conversation. Peterson further admitted he was in at least one group chat on Telegram that was sharing child pornography and he stayed in the group for a couple of weeks. The images and videos found on Peterson’s phone contained material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct as well as prepubescent children and toddlers.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Peterson remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Peterson faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any imprisonment of 5 years to life.
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 the Sioux City Police Department and is being 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 24-CR-04036. Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.