Carter Lake man sentenced for accessing child pornography following ICE HSI investigation

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – Zachery McCuen, age 29, of Carter Lake, was sentenced on Monday, to 96 months in prison for accessing child pornography. McCuen’s term of imprisonment will be followed by five years of supervised release. According to court documents, McCuen pleaded guilty to the charge on Oct. 1, 2021.

On Jan. 18, 2019, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information that child pornography was being traded in a chat group on Kik messenger. One of the Kik users was identified as McCuen and in October 2018, he was communicating with, exchanging, and receiving images and videos of child pornography with another Kik user from California.

HSI Special Agent in Charge of the Kansas City Area of Operations Katherine Greer and United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement.

HSI Omaha investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of Iowa.

HSI is a directorate of ICE and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

Learn more about HSI’s child exploitation mission @HSIKansasCity.