DES MOINES – A former volunteer and child mentor has been convicted of taking pornographic photos of a young boy, and will spend 18 years in federal prison.
On November 17, 2014, Joshua Parsons, of Des Moines, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge James E. Gritzner to 18 years in prison for manufacturing child pornography, announced U. S. Attorney Nicholas A. Klinefeldt. Parsons was also sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release.
Parsons volunteered his time as a mentor to children in the Des Moines area, took pornographic photographs of a young boy, and used the internet to download hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.
“This investigation involved a quick and effective response from the Marshalltown Police Department to capture a sexual predator and identify the victims of his offenses,” said Marshalltown Police Chief Michael W. Tupper. “The eighteen-year sentence in this case justly reflects the seriousness of the crime.”
The case was investigated by the Marshalltown, Iowa, Police Department and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office as part of the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
