Source: US FBI
DES MOINES, Iowa – A Polk County man was sentenced on June 11, 2025, to 48 months in federal prison for the possession of child pornography.
According to public court documents, law enforcement seized electronic devices belonging to Andrew Charles Nygaard, 45, when law enforcement searched his Granger residence in September 2022. A forensic examination of Nygaard’s devices showed that Nygaard knowingly and intentionally downloaded files containing child sexual abuse material from the internet from at least September 2018 through June 2022.
After completing his term of imprisonment, Nygaard will be required to serve a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Nygaard was also ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. This case was investigated by the Iowa Department of Public Safety-Division of Criminal Investigation-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Child Exploitation Task Force and Granger Police Department.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.