A Waterloo man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of child pornography. Forrest Rindels, 69, admitted during his plea hearing that he knowingly possessed child pornography on a tablet and a micro-SD card between 2021 and 2022. He also acknowledged a previous conviction for receipt of child pornography in the Northern District of Iowa in 2016.
United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams handed down the sentence in Cedar Rapids, ordering Rindels to serve 144 months in prison. In addition to the prison term, Rindels was ordered to pay $42,000 in restitution to 14 victims depicted in the material he possessed and will be subject to five years of supervised release following his incarceration. Federal sentencing does not allow for parole.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation along with the Waterloo Police Department.
According to the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative, which led this prosecution, federal, state, and local resources are coordinated nationwide to identify and prosecute individuals involved in child sexual exploitation as well as rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.usdoj.gov/psc.
“This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.””
