CEDAR RAPIDS – A Northern Iowa man who received child pornography from 2004 through December of 2021 was sentenced December 17, 2024 to more than 11 years in federal prison.
Robert Jene Smith, age 57, from New Hartford, Iowa, received the prison term after a May 20, 2024, guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography.
In a plea agreement, Smith admitted that from 2004 through the search of his house in December of 2021, he obtained and shared hundreds of images and videos by using a file sharing program. During the search of his residence, agents found over 7,500 images and over 100 videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct on multiple devices in the residence.
Smith was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand. Smith was sentenced to 136 months’ imprisonment and fined $1,000. He was ordered to make $32,000 in restitution to ten identified victims who were used to produce child pornography and requested restitution for damages they suffered. He must also pay $15,100 in special assessments and serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
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 the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood,
Smith is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Reinert and investigated by Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Urbandale, Iowa, Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.