Kearney Man Sentenced for Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Royce Love, 45, of Kearney, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 2, 2024, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, for receipt of child pornography.  Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Love to 84 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Love is released from prison, he will begin an 8-year term of supervised release.

Love was contacted online by a vigilante group who posed as a minor female. A conversation ensued in which the group attempted to get Love to agree to meet with the minor female for a sex act. Ultimately, Love stopped communicating with the account and blocked it without ever agreeing to meet. The group then confronted Love in person at his residence and called police.

Love agreed to allow to law enforcement to search his phone. When the search was performed, police discovered multiple images of child pornography involving minor females. Police contacted Love again about a week later when the search was complete. After being advised of the Miranda warnings, Love was asked about the images. Love said he could not remember exactly where he had obtained the images, but he did acknowledge receiving them over the internet.

Additional electronic devices were seized after the second interview. When those devices were searched, police located additional images depicting children engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

This case was investigated by the Kearney Police Department and 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.