Former standout Jefferson High athlete faces sexual exploitation of children charge

CEDAR RAPIDS - A former Jefferson High School baseball and basketball player was charged Thursday in federal court with sexual exploitation of children.

Tyler Konigsmark, 20, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of children and one count of enticement of minors, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court.

Konigsmark, who graduated from Jefferson High in 2015, is accused of persuading and attempting to persuade, induce and entice minors to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing photos and videos between April and May, the indictment shows.

There is no further information in court documents on the number of alleged victims or their ages. More details are likely to be revealed during a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Konigsmark was held without bond on Thursday.

If convicted on both charges, Konigsmark faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison and possibly up to life. He also faces up to a $500,000 fine and five years to life on supervised release following any prison time.

Konigsmark was a second-team all-Metro baseball player as a senior at Jefferson High.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Tremmel and is being investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Hiawatha Police Department and the Cedar Rapids Police Department.

J.R. Ogden contributed to this report