United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Charles Eberhardt, 56, of Imperial, Nebraska, was sentenced on January 29, in Lincoln, Nebraska, to four years, nine months in prison by United States District Judge John M. Gerrard, for possession of child pornography.  After his release from prison, Eberhardt will be required to serve a 10-year term of supervised release and be registered as a sex offender.

In September of 2014, Xoom.com, an online international money transfer service, notified Yahoo! that a number of Yahoo! accounts were engaged in the sale of child exploitation material.  The investigation determined that several email accounts, operating overseas, were believed to be selling images, video and live-streamed sexual abuse.  Eberhardt was found to be one of the persons expressing an interest in young children and appeared to be purchasing images, video, or live streams of child exploitation material from the seller account(s).  Evidence showed that at least one wire transfer was sent by Eberhardt to the Philippines. There are also chat logs showing communication with another person in Nebraska about having sex with minors.

On June 2^, 2015, a search warrant was issued on Eberhardt’s residence and he admitted to accessing child pornography websites using the Internet.  The forensic investigation of the equipment listed in the Forfeiture Allegation revealed approximately 43 images of child pornography, including visual depictions of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

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 to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office wants residents to be aware of a scam that may be targeting senior citizens in the area.

According to a post on the LCSO Facebook page, a Hershey resident received a letter in the mail on January 8 titled, “Lincoln County Referendum on Social Security.”

Authorities say the letter requested that a payment of $16.75 be made by cash or credit card to support the “Social Security Trust Fund.”

The LCSO says, after further investigation, they have determined that this is a scam targeting senior citizen’s money.

They say anyone who receives a letter of this nature should throw it away.

• Spencer Drew Campbell, 27, Curtis NE and Marina Rae Ovalle, 25, Curtis NE

• Michael David Sappenfield, 51, North Platte and Gina Marie Elizondo, 46, North Platte

• Douglas Alan Ross, 28, North Platte and Tiffany Leeanne Blaylock, 24, North Platte

• Thomas J King, 50, North Platte and Darcy Kay King, 49, North Platte

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some of the students who gathered in Lincoln at the Nebraska Youth Summit on Climate say they did so because they wanted to move from debate into action.

Thursday’s summit was the brainchild of state Sen. Ken Haar (hahr), and it drew more than 60 high school and college students. Among them was Reuben Erickson, says climate change is “really a pressing issue that’s going to affect us a lot more than Senator Haar and those making decisions.”

The summit was designed to give the young people a voice, teaching them the legislative process and advising them on how to have effective meetings with lawmakers, how to testify and how to get the media involved.