Acting United States Attorney Matthew R. Molsen announced that Lucas A. Wacker, age 39 of Broken Bow, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Lincoln for receipt and distribution of child pornography. Wacker was found in possession of 373 video and image files of child pornography.
United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Wacker to 7 years and 4 months imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay $3,000 to go toward a fund established for child victims. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.
An investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol downloaded two files directly from a suspect IP address during a peer-to-peer (“P2P”) undercover operation in April of 2024. A subpoena was served for the IP address and the IP came back to Lucas Wacker. The files received from the IP included an already known child pornography file.
In May of 2024, a search warrant was executed for the search of Wacker’s home in Broken Bow. During a preview of Wacker’s phone, investigators found several video files depicting child pornography, including one of the videos which was part of the P2P investigation. Search history indicating searches for child pornography content were also located on the program.
Wacker was interviewed during the search, and he admitted to viewing and collecting child pornography. He also admitted to downloading child pornography and he informed investigators of the specific application and search terms that he would use. Wacker’s cellphone was extracted and reviewed, where the video and image files were found.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
