SIDNEY, NE — A Sidney man facing multiple felony charges related to a child porn investigation spurred on by a vigilante group has taken a plea deal, according to court records.
Court documents show the charges against Jamie Daniels were recently amended. In a court hearing last week, Daniels pleaded no contest to four counts of distribution of child pornography, a Class 1D felony. As part of the agreement, the 13 other counts related to the investigation were dropped.
According to Nebraska State Statutes, a Class 1D felony carries a mandatory minimum sentence of three years and a max of 50 years in prison.
Daniels will be sentenced on June 18th.
The investigation into Daniels began in November 2020 after a vigilante group who call themselves The Predator Poachers confronted Daniels in Sidney. They claimed he had sent explicit messages to a member of their group who was posing as a minor online and presented evidence of the activity to local authorities.
Daniels was then arrested but released shortly after as charges were initially declined because the person posing as a minor was not a law enforcement officer. He was taken back into custody in early December after a police-conducted investigation found more evidence against Daniels.
