Cedar Rapids man sentenced to 11 years for child porn

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man who participated in an online chat group where adult men solicited sexually explicit photos and videos from a 13-year-old girl was sentenced last week to over 11 years in federal prison.

Jason Dean Anderson, 50, previously pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of accessing child pornography including a depiction involving a minor under age 12.

According to evidence, Anderson participated during 2021 and 2022 in a Snapchat group where men sexually exploited the girl. Anderson admitted to requesting that the girl take and post sexually graphic videos of herself. Officers seized Anderson’s cellphone and found several videos and photos of child pornography.

Anderson admitted he was interested in teenagers and that he had chatted with some children online, according to evidence at sentencing. Law enforcement previously had encountered Anderson in 2012 after authorities discovered he was having sexually explicit conversations online with a 17-year-old girl who lived in a facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities. He had been communicating with the teen for about two years and requested she send him sexually explicit photos of herself, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams sentenced Anderson to 135 months in prison and five years of supervised release following his prison term. Anderson remains in custody with the U.S. Marshals Service until he can be taken to a federal prison.

This case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Liz Dupuich, now a 6th Judicial District judge, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Chatham and investigated by the FBI and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

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