United States of America v. Scott Lee Meyer

Lincoln, Nebraska criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to produce child pornography in violation of 18 U.S.C. 2251(a) and (e), which provided:



(a) Any person who employs, uses, persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any minor to engage in, or who has a minor assist any other person to engage in, or who transports any minor in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, or in any Territory or Possession of the United States, with the intent that such minor engage in, any sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing any visual depiction of such conduct or for the purpose of transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct, shall be punished as provided under subsection (e), if such person knows or has reason to know that such visual depiction will be transported or transmitted using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or mailed, if that visual depiction was produced or transmitted using materials that have been mailed, shipped, or transported in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce by any means, including by computer, or if such visual depiction has actually been transported or transmitted using any means or facility of interstate or foreign commerce or in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce or mailed.



(e) Any individual who violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, this section shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 15 years nor more than 30 years, but if such person has one prior conviction under this chapter, section 1591, chapter 71, chapter 109A, or chapter 117, or under section 920 of title 10 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), or under the laws of any State relating to aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact involving a minor or ward, or sex trafficking of children, or the production, possession, receipt, mailing, sale, distribution, shipment, or transportation of child pornography, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned for not less than 25 years nor more than 50 years, but if such person has 2 or more prior convictions under this chapter, chapter 71, chapter 109A, or chapter 117, or under section 920 of title 10 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), or under the laws of any State relating to the sexual exploitation of children, such person shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 35 years nor more than life. Any organization that violates, or attempts or conspires to violate, this section shall be fined under this title. Whoever, in the course of an offense under this section, engages in conduct that results in the death of a person, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for not less than 30 years or for life.



In July of 2022 with an investigation by the FBI in an attempt to identify children in a series of child pornography images which were being shared online. Through the investigation it was determined that the files were associated with Scott Meyer and Scott Simmons.



On August 25, 2022, a search warrant was received to search Meyer's and Simmons' residence. During the search warrant, it was determined that the residence was where many of the child exploitation files were produced. Numerous electronic devices were seized from the residence. Meyer was at the residence during the execution of the search warrant. He agreed to be interviewed and admitted that he and Simmons had engaged in photographing and recording prepubescent boys in a sexually explicit manner. He admitted that these images and videos were produced at their residence and other locations to include various hotels. Four child victims were identified and interviewed by child advocate interviewers.



A forensic examination was completed of Meyer's and Simmons' personal cellphones. Each phone contained more than 400 files of child pornography. A large majority of these files found on the phones were original productions of the minor victims in this case.



Meyer was previously convicted in 2013, for two counts of sexual assault of a child in the 1st degree in Hall County District Court, Nebraska. Meyer and Simmons met while both were serving sentences for child-sex offenses in Nebraska. Meyer and Simmons distributed the images and videos they produced of the victims in this case on the Tor network using encrypted forms of email to further hide their identities. They additionally directly shared the files they created with at least one acquaintance they made while serving their prior sentences.



Following today's sentencing, Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr expressed "The sentencing today of Scott Meyer and the July Sentencing of Scott Simmons reflect the seriousness of the crimes these men jointly committed. Their actions were reprehensible, unspeakable, and carefully planned for their own gratification without regard for the lives they were affecting. The sentences imposed although significant do not erase the impact their conduct will have on the children and their families for years to come.”



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 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.



This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Simmons was previously sentenced to 60 years in prison on July 6, 2023, regarding the same case.



Meyer was sentenced to 624 months in prison.