Hawkeye Reporter

A Dubuque man has pleaded guilty in federal court to distributing child pornography. Jonathan Reed Snow, 25, admitted during a plea hearing in Cedar Rapids that he used the Internet between September 2023 and August 2024 to share visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Evidence presented at an earlier hearing showed that Snow also received and possessed child pornography, including images involving prepubescent children, from June 2024 to August 2024.

"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.'"

Snow will be sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams after a presentence report is completed. He remains in custody of the United States Marshal until sentencing. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to twenty years without parole. Snow could also face a $250,000 fine, $40,100 in special assessments, and lifetime supervised release after serving his sentence.