A man from Nebraska is awaiting sentencing for sending child pornography to an undercover cop

Pete C. Blumenthal, 36 years old from Kearney, Nebraska was arrested on 9th of November 2018 for sharing pedopornography over the internet to an undercover officer. The felony charges were supposed to take effect on November the 8th 2018, but the case was sealed until 2nd of January 2018 to protect the on-going investigation.

A preliminary audition is scheduled at the end of January 2019 in Washington, D.C. where he’s currently being held in federal custody without bond. Blumenthal is represented by the public defender appointed to him by the court.

The court affidavit describes the investigation which started on 6th of November 2018. The Child Exploitation Task Force was masquerading and interacting as another participant in online pedophilia groups. Shortly after, a certain “badchicken33” responded to a message sent by the undercover cops. His IP address led back to Pete Blumenthal residence.

The private chat between Pete and the police began, and the culprit initially started sending non-pornographic images of boys and girls. After a while, Pete wanted to make sure he wasn’t stepping into a trap, so he simply asked:

“You’re (sic) not a cop right? Or any kind of agent??” Blumenthal wrote.
To which the officer replied, “Hell no. Perv here.”

Reassured, Pete continued sending more and more graphic images of penetrative and non-penetrative sex between adults and kids. Surely enough, a raid mandate was issued and executed on 36-year-old Pete C. Blumenthal.

The details of the operation aren’t fully known, but the small 3-day time frame of the investigation might indicate that the suspect had no cybersecurity protocols put in place whatsoever. His rather comical question to the undercover police officers seems to confirm the complete absence of experience in internet security. Under federal law, Pete is risking a minimum of 5 years to a maximum of 20 years of incarceration, depending on priors and forensics.