SIOUX CITY – A Northern Iowa man has pleaded guilty to child porn charges after coercing youngsters on social media to send him explicit photos.
Bryan Ross, 26, from Ellsworth, Iowa, plead guilty November 4, 2022, in federal court to Producing and Distributing Child Pornography.
In a plea agreement, Ross admitted that between July 2019, and February 2022, he knowingly harassed and coerced minors online via Facebook and Snapchat to take sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves to send to him. Ross further admitted that he received and attempted to receive visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and distributed them to others online.
Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set for a later date after a presentence report is prepared. Ross was taken into custody by the United States Marshal after the guilty plea and will remain in custody pending sentencing. Ross faces a mandatory sentence of 15 years imprisonment with the maximum of not more than 30 years’ imprisonment without the possibility of parole, a fine of not more than $250,000, a mandatory special assessment of $100 and a term of supervised release of 5 years to life.
The case was investigated by Department of Homeland Security and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.
