Hawkeye Reporter

A Clinton, Iowa man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for receipt and attempted production of child pornography.

Court documents and evidence presented at sentencing showed that Eric Jensen Salter, 37, was identified after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received CyberTips about an account associated with him receiving files containing child sexual abuse material. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Salter’s residence in Clinton, seizing electronic devices as part of their investigation.

Authorities found that Salter used his email account to seek out, receive, view, and possess child pornography. Some of the content involved prepubescent children. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office also obtained records showing an email exchange between Salter and a sixteen-year-old girl from May to October 2018. During these exchanges, Salter attempted to persuade the minor to send him sexually explicit images by requesting such content from her.

Salter will serve a ten-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay $8,000 in restitution. Federal sentences do not allow for parole.

“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. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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,” said United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal for the Southern District of Iowa.

The investigation involved multiple agencies including the Clinton County Sheriff's Office, Davenport Police Department, and Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation.

More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.