SIOUX CITY – An Iowa man previously convicted of lascivious acts with a child, faces a minimum of 15 years’ imprisonment after a guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
James Sorter, age 41, from Terril, Iowa, was convicted in April of one count of receipt and distribution of child pornography after a conviction for lascivious acts with child in the District Court for Linn County, Iowa.
In a plea agreement, Sorter admitted that between August 1, 2014, and May 31, 2017, in the Northern District of Iowa and elsewhere, he knowingly received and attempted to receive visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including a depiction involving a prepubescent minor or a minor that had not attained 12 years of age. Sorter was previously convicted of lascivious acts with a child in the Iowa District Court for Linn County in 2005.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Sorter remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Sorter faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 5 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy T. Duax and was investigated by Iowa Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
