Nebraska man gets 20 years for distributing child porn on Facebook

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A 23-year-old Nebraska man was sentenced Thursday for distributing hundreds of child pornography photos, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.

Joseph S. Martin, formerly of Hebron, will spend 20 years in federal prison.

Martin, who has two previous convictions for possession of child pornography, will then serve 30 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher also ordered him to pay $24,000 in restitution.

The case began on Nov. 9, 2021, when Homeland Security Investigations received a tip about child porn on Facebook.

The social media platform reported that a user had uploaded a suspected child porn image on July 12.

Facebook and investigators traced the account to Martin.

Authorities got a warrant to search the account, where they found several child porn photos, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Martin told investigators that about 500 such images associated with him would be found on various digital platforms, authorities said.

Martin was convicted of child porn possession in 2019 and 2021. He pleaded guilty both times in exchange for reduced charges.

On March 19, 2021, he was sentenced to three to four years in prison. But he was also given credit for 294 days already served in custody.

And according to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services’ online inmate database, he became eligible for parole immediately.

He was released after 41 days. Less than three months later, he would reoffend.