Dubuque, Iowa (DIP News)

February 14th, 2023

While on the Sex Offender Registry He Used Aliases on Social Media to Receive Child Sexual Abuse Material.

A man who posed as multiple teenagers to engage in sexually explicit communication with minors online and receive child sexual abuse material, was sentenced on February 13, 2023, to 25 years in federal prison.

Robert “Bobby” Lippstock, age 33, from Dubuque, Iowa, received the prison term after a September 27, 2022, guilty plea to receipt and possession of child pornography.

At the guilty plea, Lippstock admitted he received and possessed depictions of child pornography from 2019 to 2020. At a prior hearing, evidence established that Lippstock was previously convicted of attempting to meet with a minor in a local park. In this case, Lippstock again fooled minors into thinking he was their friend to facilitate sexually explicit communication with them. After gaining their trust, he successfully received and re-distributed child sexual abuse material online through at least eight separate social media aliases. In addition, Lippstock possessed child sexual abuse material on multiple electronic devices at his residence. At sentencing, the judge stated Lippstock poses a real and present danger to the community, particularly to children.

Lippstock was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Lippstock was sentenced to 300 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a ten-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. It aims 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 http://www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”