Man who preyed on underage girls on Snapchat sentenced to 25 years in federal prison

An Iowa man who requested images from and sent images to underage girls via the social media app Snapchat was sentenced to 300 months in prison for production of child pornography and transfer of obscene material to minors.

Jacob John Preuschl, 28, from North Liberty, Iowa, was ordered to pay $10,000 under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act and $3,000 under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act, which is the minimum amount a court may order.

The accused will also be required to serve seven years of supervised release following his prison term.

Authorities were alerted to the activities of Preuschl after the parent of an underage victim called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tip line. The parent found sexually explicit content between the young girl and the man on the child's cell phone.

Preuschl came into contact with the victim through Snapchat and asked for nude images and videos of the child during a period of speaking with her for four months. The man also sent the victim images of his genitals. Authorities found after seizing his cell phone that Preuschl had been communicating with several other minor females via Snapchat, noting that he had acquired child pornography via Telegram, another communication and file-sharing app.

The NCMEC notified Nashville law enforcement, who then identified the man and referred the situation to Iowa law enforcement. The Joint Forensic Analysis Cyber Team and the Nashville Police Department investigated the case.

Preuschl is the second Iowa man to be sentenced for child pornography in just one week. A Des Moines man was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for knowingly receiving child pornography.

Both cases were prosecuted as part of an initiative called Project Safe Childhood, a Department of Justice initiative started in 2006 that is intended to "combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse."

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal has made announcements regarding both cases, the former of which involved several years of joint investigations between different law enforcement agencies, spanning several years.

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