Evergreen Reporter

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Estefan Bernardino Chavez, 30, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was sentenced on June 6, 2024, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for production of child pornography. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter Jr. sentenced Chavez to 30 years’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Chavez’s release from prison, he will begin a 15-year term of supervised release. Chavez will also be required to register as a sex offender. Chief Judge Rossiter ordered Chavez to pay $3,000 in restitution and a $3,100 special assessment.

On February 28, 2023, Chavez attempted to join an online website purporting to facilitate the sharing of so-called “original” child pornography content via the Tor network. Chavez used an IP address that resolved to his residence in Norfolk to register for an account on the website. While using the website, Chavez sent the website administrator a link that contained a video file depicting Chavez and a minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

On March 1, 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force executed a search warrant at Chavez’s residence. Chavez was arrested that same day.

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 United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (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 identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Omaha FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.