Norfolk Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Child Pornography Charges

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Noah Hale, 21, of Norfolk, Nebraska, was sentenced on July 9, 2026, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, for one count of production of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possession of child pornography. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Hale to a total of 420 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Hale's release from prison, he will begin a lifetime term of supervised release. Hale was additionally ordered to pay $3,460 in restitution and $3,000 which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of cases.

In February 2024, FBI Omaha was contacted regarding an investigation into a trend where individuals groom and subsequently entice victims, often minors, into a variety of concerning behaviors. These behaviors included engaging in and recording self-harm and producing sexually explicit images of themselves at the request of the predator. Noah Hale was identified as a suspect during the investigation. The FBI received several tips that associated Hale using various social media accounts where he requested, posted, and/or sent child pornography.

A search warrant for Hale's residence and his devices was executed on February 29, 2024. A review of those devices revealed approximately 2,300 media files that were flagged as files of interest. Most of these files appeared to be original content created by females Hale victimized. The files depicted females, a majority of whom were apparent minors, engaged in various circumstances to include: self-harm and self-mutilating behavior, child pornography, and "fan signs" which are files in which the female had written names associated with Hale on their body or on a sign.

FBI underwent extensive efforts to locate the females identified in these files. Thirty minor females, between the ages of 11 and 17, from across the United States and in at least one other country were able to be identified from the 2,300 files. It was discovered that Hale would use various tactics of enticing, love bombing or threatening these minors with physical and sexual harm in order to convince them to produce images or videos of themselves for Hale. The files produced at Hale's request were often sadistic and degrading.

"Hale is every parent's worst nightmare: the type of predator who can gain access to their children even when they are in their own homes with their loved ones all around them," said United States Attorney Lesley Woods. "This type of predator grooms, manipulates, and threatens children and by the time they realize what is going on, the predator has them convinced of the lie that they have to comply with his sick demands. Hale deserves every minute of his federal prison time. May he never talk to another child online so long as he lives."

After the sentencing, FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, "Criminals like Noah Hale are a horrific and chilling example of how child predators use technology to locate and victimize the most vulnerable members of our community. We will never stop using every investigative resource we have to identify and apprehend subjects like Hale and ensure he will not be in a position to harm another child for a very long time. We appreciate all the work of our law enforcement partners in this case to help bring some measure of justice on behalf of those victimized."

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.