Omaha man sentenced for possessing child exploitation material following HSI, joint law enforcement partner probe

OMAHA, Neb. – Katheriner Greer, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Kansas City area of operations, and Steven Russell, Acting United States Attorney, announced that Jonathan L. Traver, 30, of Omaha, was sentenced July 8 in federal court for possession of child exploitation material following an HSI, joint law enforcement probe.

United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Traver to 105 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Traver will begin a five-year term of supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

On Sept. 19, 2020, an investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP), special operations division, was working in an undercover capacity on the Bit Torrent network. The NSP was working to identify persons distributing child pornography to other Bit Torrent network users. The investigator was sent child pornography from another individual located in Omaha. During the investigation, the NSP was able to identify the IP address of the individual who sent the child pornography to the undercover investigator. The NSP obtained information related to the IP address, which ultimately identified Traver as the subscriber.

On Oct. 9, 2020, NSP investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol contacted Traver at his Omaha residence. Traver confessed to downloading and viewing files of child pornography on the Bit Torrent network. NSP investigators located numerous videos and image files of child pornography on Traver’s cell phone. Some of these images involved children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.

This case was investigated by HSI and the NSP.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States, and 86 overseas locations in 55 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s mission to combat child exploitation in your community on Twitter, @HSIKansasCity.