Utah man pleads guilty to producing child pornography; faces at least 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to producing child pornography by using a smartphone to stream several live videos from his home to another Utah suspect between June 2013 and August 2015.

This case is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Davis County (Utah) Sheriff’s Office, and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) Task Force.

Nathan Clark Ward, 56, of Bountiful, Utah, admitted that in some of the videos he lifted the shirt of a minor and in others pulled down the minor’s pants.

The maximum potential penalty for producing child pornography is 30 years in federal prison with a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, who presided at the hearing, set sentencing for May 31. Ward remains in federal custody.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment in September 2017 charging Ward with producing, possessing and distributing child pornography. The case started with a tip reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that an individual had uploaded sexually explicit images of children to the internet. Further investigation showed the user was in the Salt Lake City metro area. NCMEC forwarded this case to the Utah ICAC Task Force for further investigation. The Davis County Sheriff’s Office, an ICAC affiliate agency, subsequently took the lead investigating this case.

The investigation of Ward led law enforcement officers to Robert Edwin Francis, 41, of Lehi, Utah. Francis is serving 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography. U.S. District Judge Dee Benson imposed this sentence Jan. 22, 2018. Francis was charged with producing, receiving and possessing child pornography in an indictment returned in August 2017. Francis admitted he engaged in sexually explicit conduct involving children via an on-line social network, and that he possessed at least 150 but fewer than 300 images of child pornography.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan D. Lyon of the Davis County Attorney’s Office and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew Yeates and Andrea Martinez of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Salt Lake City are prosecuting these cases.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 16,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2016, more than 2,600 child predators were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 800 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

HSI is a founding member of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.