SIOUX CITY — A Northern Iowa man is now convicted of possessing child pornography after investigators found more than 10,000 images and 1,000 videos of child sexual abuse material on electronic devices seized from his home, federal prosecutors said.
Chris Kurt, 44, of Lake Park, pleaded guilty October 5, 2026, in federal court in Sioux City. He remains in the custody of the United States Marshal awaiting sentencing and faces up to 20 years in prison, according to an October 9 release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.
At his plea hearing, Kurt admitted that between January 1, 2017, and June 23, 2025, he received and possessed more than 103 videos and 132 images of child pornography that were backed up to his cloud storage, prosecutors said.
Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Kurt’s residence and seized several electronic devices. A forensic examination uncovered an additional collection of more than 10,000 images and 1,000 videos of child sexual abuse material.
Prosecutors said some of the material depicted prepubescent children or children younger than 12. Some depictions involved violence or the sexual abuse or exploitation of infants or toddlers.
During an interview with investigators, Kurt (pictured at top) admitted routinely making screen recordings on his phone while visiting websites containing child sexual abuse material. He told agents he did not know how much would be found on his devices because he had downloaded so much over the years, prosecutors said.
Sentencing before U.S. District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be scheduled after a presentence report is prepared. In addition to a maximum 20-year prison sentence, Kurt faces a fine of up to $250,000 and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Lake Park Police Department and Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kraig R. Hamit is prosecuting it. The federal case number is 26-4023.
The prosecution was brought through Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative launched in 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.
NIT has covered other Northern Iowa prosecutions under the initiative, including Hardy resident Scott Devries’ guilty plea to possessing child pornography and Tripoli resident Isiah Michael Morse’s guilty pleas to receiving and possessing child pornography. Those are separate cases.