A Nebraska man pleaded guilty today to producing child pornography between 2015 and 2016, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Robert C. Stuart of the District of Nebraska.

Nicholas Alford, 26, of Bellevue, Nebraska, pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography before Chief U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp of the District of Nebraska. Sentencing is set for May 14.

According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, in July 2015, Alford provided a 13-year-old minor with the username for a Kik Messenger account user who Alford claimed would pay the minor money in exchange for sexually explicit images. Alford was actually the user of the Kik Messenger account, and, in that capacity, he persuaded the minor to send dozens of sexually explicit images to his Kik Messenger account. A search warrant executed on Alford’s Bellevue residence resulted in the discovery of dozens of images and videos depicting the minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The FBI is investigating this case. Trial Attorney William M. Grady of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Norris of the District of Nebraska are prosecuting the case.

This investigation is a 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 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.justice.gov/psc.