Bettendorf man sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on child porn and firearms charges

Apr. 23—A Bettendorf man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison on child porn and weapons charges.

Jakob Paul Newberry, 29, was arrested by federal authorities on Nov. 14, 2022. He was charged with one count each of receiving or distributing child pornography; possession or access with the intent to review child pornography; and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.

The case began in March 2022 after the Scott County Sheriff's Department received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Newberry had shared files containing child sexual abuse material from in iCloud account.

Officers received another tip that Newberry had uploaded child sexual abuse material from a Kik account, too.

Scott County Sheriff's investigator Ethan Roling applied for a search warrant on Newberry's home on April 1 that was approved by Scott County District Associate Judge Korie Talkington.

From Newberry's home Roling seized two iPhones, two children's iPads, a laptop computer, and Xbox system, as well as a pill bottle with 20 tramadol pills, a half-gram of marijuana and a glass pipe for smoking marijuana.

During the investigation officers found that Newberry had utilized Instagram to obtain nude photographs of minor females and had attempted to extort the minors into sending other sexual images.

Newberry as a user of unlawful drugs also was in possession of nine firearms.

In accordance with an agreement with prosecutors, Newberry pleaded guilty to the charges of receiving or distributing child pornography and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm during a hearing on Nov. 20, 2023, in U.S. District Court, Davenport.

During his sentencing hearing held Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher sentenced Newberry to 144 months, or 12 years, in prison on the child porn charge, and to 120 months, or 10 years, on the firearms charge.

Locher ordered the sentences to run concurrently, or at the same time. Newberry was given credit for the time he has served in custody awaiting trial and sentencing.

Newberry also was sentenced to serve five years in supervised release once he completes his prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

The case was investigated by the Scott County Sheriff's Department and was prosecuted by federal authorities as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative of the Department of Justice launched in May of 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

___

(c)2024 Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa

Visit Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa at http://www.qctimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.