OMAHA, Neb. — U.S. Attorney Susan T. Lehr announced that Jason C. Nottingham, 39, of Omaha, was sentenced Aug. 29 in federal court in Omaha for transportation of child sexual abuse material following a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City’s Omaha suboffice investigation. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Nottingham to 63 months of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Nottingham will be required to complete a five-year term of supervised release.
“The sentencing of Nottingham for the transportation of child sex abuse material, involving both real children and AI-generated images, underscores the severity of these heinous crimes,” said HSI Kansas City Special Agent in Charge Mark Zito. “Let it be unequivocally clear that whether these images are of real children or artificially created, they are equally criminal and reprehensible. Such actions perpetuate the exploitation and abuse of innocent victims, and we will relentlessly pursue and prosecute those who engage in these vile activities. Our commitment to protecting the most vulnerable members of our society remains unwavering.”
Internet child sexual abuse investigators began investigating a CyberTipline report from Yahoo! stating that a user had uploaded 37 files of child sexual abuse material between Jan. 16 and Jan. 19, 2023. Of the 37 files, 34 were videos and three were photos. One file was described as a four-minute, nine-second video, during which an adult male sexually assaulted a naked girl who was approximately 3 to 5 years old. The CyberTipline report indicated that at least one of the video files was attached to an email sent from Nottingham’s Yahoo! email account to his Gmail account on or about Jan. 18, 2023.
On May 25, 2023, investigators executed a search warrant at defendant’s residence in Omaha. Investigators contacted Nottingham and advised him that the warrant was related to child sexual abuse material. Prior to the end of his interview with investigators, Nottingham acknowledged his use of the Yahoo! email account reported by in the CyberTipline report. The warrant authorized investigators to seize Nottingham’s electronic devices.
Investigators also executed search warrants to Google for the Gmail account and to Yahoo! for the Yahoo! email account. Within the return from Google, the agent observed several hundred images and videos of AI-created child sexual abuse.
Investigators forensically examined the defendant’s electronic devices. On his computer tower hard drive, they found 26 images of child sexual abuse. On an external hard drive, investigators located several images of partially clothed young girls between approximately 13 and 15 years old. One of the girls had “I’m 14 years old” written on her chest. Based upon the forensic examination, investigators believe that the images were obtained through chats on Facebook. Investigators also located “several hundred” images and videos of AI-created child sexual abuse on the external hard drive.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.
This case was investigated by HSI and the Nebraska State Patrol.
Together with partners in law enforcement, state and local government, international counterparts, and nongovernmental organizations, the HSI workforce does heroic work to prevent these crimes, support those who are impacted by them, and hold perpetrators accountable.
HSI offers multiple options for virtual and in-person trainings to educate the public about the growing threats children and teens face online.
Learn more about HSI Kansas City’s mission to eradicate child exploitation on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIKansasCity.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce consists of over 10,000 employees, assigned to 235 offices within the United States and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI's international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.