(official statement Department Of Justice)
On November 12, 2019, the Honorable Michael J. Melloy, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sentenced Ryan Mitchell Budde, 34, of Clinton, Iowa, to 130 months in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Marc Krickbaum. Budde was also ordered to serve 6 years of supervised release following his imprisonment, pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund, pay $5,000 in restitution, and comply with the sex offender registry requirements upon release.
On July 9, 2019, Budde pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and distributing child pornography. The investigation began in 2017 when a tip to law enforcement was received from a social media company regarding 27 files containing child pornography which had been uploaded to the social media site. Two cellular phones and two laptops belonging to Budde were seized and examined, and a total of 365 images were identified as child pornography and recovered from these devices. The investigation also revealed that Budde had chat sessions with young boys, where he pretended to be a 15 year-old virgin.
This matter was investigated by Clinton County, Iowa, Police Department and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
