Benjamin Barber, age 30, from Bronson, Iowa, has been charged with transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed today in United States District Court in Sioux City.
The Indictment alleges that, between May 2003 and July 2007, Barber knowingly transported in interstate commerce a visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and that he both received and possessed such depictions.
If convicted, Barber faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 50 years’ imprisonment, $750,000 in fines, $300 in special assessments, and at least 5 years and up to life on supervised release following any imprisonment.
Barber appeared today in federal court in Sioux City and was released on bond. Barber’s next appearance for trial is set for September 6, 2011.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.
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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR 11-4077.|
