DAVENPORT, Iowa – A former Fairfield man, Auston Jacobus Hummell, age 23, was
sentenced on January 26, 2022, to 190 months in prison for Receipt and Distribution of Child
Pornography. Following his prison term, Hummell was ordered to serve ten years of supervised
release as well as pay $3,000 to each of his eleven victims – for a total of $33,000. Hummell was
also ordered to pay a $100 Special Assessment fee.
According to court documents, the investigation into Hummell began when the Mount
Pleasant Police Department received a CyberTip from the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children
Task Force. The CyberTip indicated files containing child pornography were uploaded from
specific IP addresses and those IP addresses traced back to Hummell. After liaising with Kahoka
Police Department in Kahoka, Missouri, a search warrant was issued for Hummell’s known
residence and numerous electronic devices were seized. The devices contained over 120,000
images and videos containing child pornography. On June 21, 2021, Hummell pleaded guilty to
the charge.
United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the
announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mount Pleasant Police Department, Kahoka
Police Department, and the Iowa Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated the
case.
This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District
of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which
was started in 2006 as a nation-wide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and
prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual
exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are
encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821