The United States Attorney's Office

Northern District of Iowa

Press Releases

ON-LINE BOMB THREAT LEADS TO OVER 5 YEARS’ PRISON FOR CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

July 3, 2007

Contact: Ian Thornhill

United States Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth announced today that a man who possessed pictures of child pornography on his computer was sentenced yesterday to more than five years in federal prison.

MICHAEL J. VANDENBERG, 55, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 20, 2006, guilty plea to one count of possession and attempted possession of child pornography.

At the guilty plea, VANDENBERG admitted that, in July 2003, he possessed pictures of minors, including minors under the age of 12, engaged in sexually explicit conduct. VANDENBERG used his computer to possess and store over 600 pornographic pictures of children. VANDENBERG’s cache of child pornography was discovered after authorities learned he had used his computer to send a bomb threat to the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department.

VANDENBERG was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. VANDENBERG was sentenced to 64 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed. He must also serve a 15-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

VANDENBERG was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the United States Marshal on July 12, 2007.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ian K. Thornhill and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Dubuque Police Department; and the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department.