Mt. Pleasant man sentenced to prison for child pornography

A Mt. Pleasant man was sentenced on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to 132 months in prison for receiving and distributing child pornography. He was ordered to serve five years of supervised release to follow his prison term, pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund and $6,000 in restitution.

According to court documents, Jacob Hugo Alanis, age 21, was identified by the Mt. Pleasant Police Department when they received a tip alleging the presence of child pornography related to a particular email address.

On Oct. 15, 2019, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence associated with the email address. At the residence, Alanis admitted the email address belonged to him.

Alanis also admitted downloading, watching and trading child pornography. Law enforcement seized multiple electronic devices, on which law enforcement located hundreds of images and videos of child pornography.

Acting U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

The Mt. Pleasant Police Department and the FBI investigated. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children.