Lawrence Resident Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Child Exploitation Offenses

Jakob Nieves, who also goes by the name Dakota, 21, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 30 years in prison and five years of supervised release. In August 2020, Nieves pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

As part of an investigation into the use of Kik messenger for the trade of child pornography, an undercover agent communicated with Nieves via Kik. During the course of those communications, Nieves told the agent about the ways that she sexually abused two children known to her, and sent the undercover agent images and videos that Nieves had produced, which depicted Nieves sexually abusing one of those children.

On Aug. 14, 2019, when agents searched Nieves’s home, she admitted to distributing images and videos of child pornography to a user she met in a Kik group geared toward individuals interested in pedophilia. Forensic analysis of Nieves’ cell phone revealed pornographic images and videos of two children known to Nieves, both of whom were under the age of four, as well as thousands of child pornography images depicting at least 175 victims personally unknown to Nieves.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit and Mendell’s Project Safe Coordinator, prosecuted the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.