Storm Lake man to federal prison for child pornography conviction

SIOUX CITY – A man who received and possessed child pornography was sentenced December 9, 2020, to more than 18 years in federal prison.

James Alan Sievers, 35, from Storm Lake, Iowa, received the prison term after a June 19, 2020, guilty plea to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

Evidence at the plea hearing and sentencing showed that between June 5, 2019, and October 31, 2019, Sievers received and possessed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including a depiction involving a prepubescent minor or a minor who had not attained 12 years of age. During the execution of a search warrant at Seivers’ residence on October 31, 2019, officers seized items belonging to Sievers. A forensic examiner found child pornography on some of defendant’s items, including depictions of adult males sexually penetrating prepubescent children. Evidence also showed that Sievers saved some of his child pornography in an encrypted zip drive.

Sievers has three prior convictions for in Buena Vista County for incest, failure to register as a sex offender, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Sievers was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand. Sievers was sentenced to 220 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve an 8-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. Sievers is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.