A man who distributed videos online depicting the sexual abuse of children, including one in which a male teenager was lying face down and sexually assaulted, was sentenced to more than twenty years in federal prison, Your Content has learned.
Kelby Fowler, age 31, from Traer, Iowa, received the prison term after a pleading guilty to distribution and possession of child pornography on Nov. 5.
At the guilty plea, Fowler admitted he distributed and possessed child pornography, including a depiction of a minor who had not yet attained 12 years of age. Fowler possessed multiple videos showing children being sexually assaulted or raped. In an interview with law enforcement, Fowler also admitted to previously sexually assaulting a young child for whom he babysat.
Fowler was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Fowler was sentenced to 252 months’ imprisonment and fined $200. He must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release after the prison term and register as a sex offender. 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, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
Fowler 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 Liz Dupuich and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.