Nebraska Man Sentenced to Prison tor Distribution of Child Pornography

An Omaha man was sentenced to 180 months in prison today for distribution of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Joe Kelly of the District of Nebraska.

Lawrence R. Quignon, 51, pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography on April 23.  U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp of the District of Nebraska sentenced Quignon to 15 years in prison and also ordered him to serve 10 years of supervised release.

Quignon was identified via an investigation by the Nebraska State Patrol into a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline report regarding an individual uploading child pornography onto an online chat service.  During the execution of a search warrant at his home, Quignon admitted to uploading images of child pornography through the online chat service.  Quignon was previously convicted of first degree sexual assault in the State of Nebraska, and is required by Nebraska law to register as a sexual offender for life.

This case was investigated by the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force and Nebraska State Patrol.  Trial Attorney Nadia Prinz of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Norris of the District of Nebraska prosecuted the case.

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 CEOS, 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.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.