Appleton Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material
United States Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad of the Eastern District of Wisconsin announced that on November 27, 2023, Senior United States District Judge William C. Griesbach sentenced Shaun C. Meyer (age: 37), formerly of Appleton, Wisconsin, to 120 months in federal prison for distributing images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. Following the prison sentence, Meyer will serve a lifetime of supervised release.
According to court documents, in May 2022, Facebook submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The tip indicated that a Facebook user distributed images and videos that constituted child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on their platform. The Appleton Police Department investigated the tip and identified Meyer, a registered sex offender, as the suspect.
In March 2023, investigators with the Appleton Police Department searched Meyer’s residence in Appleton, Wisconsin, and seized numerous electronic devices. Investigators searched the devices and Meyer’s Facebook account, which revealed that in May 2022, Meyer distributed 142 CSAM images in a Facebook Messenger group that contained over 200 members. Additional CSAM images and videos were located on Meyer’s phone and computer, including videos of children as young as 6 years old being sexually assaulted.
During an interview, Meyer admitted to receiving and distributing CSAM on Facebook. He also acknowledged that he viewed pornography for approximately four hours every day, and that he had a particular obsession with father-daughter and uncle-niece sexual relationships.
This case was investigated by the Appleton Police Department and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alexander E. Duros.
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 U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the 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.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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