Sioux City Man Pleads Guilty to Distributing Child Pornography

Matthew Kashas, age 43, from Sioux City, Iowa, plead guilty October 8, 2026, in federal court in Sioux City, to distribution of child pornography. Kashas was previously convicted in the Northern District of Iowa for distributing child pornography in 2009 and 2016. He previously served 5-year and 10-year prison sentences, respectively, and was currently on supervised release at the time of the offense.

At the plea hearing, Kashas admitted that from May 1, 2025, and December 1, 2025, soon after his release from federal prison, he received, possessed and distributed child pornography. Kashas would access chat sites looking for moms with young daughters willing to engage in sex acts and encouraged the mothers to drug their children and send him photos. This included people from the Sioux City area. Kashas admitted to the conduct in an interview with Sioux City police and described he would routinely destroy his electronics to avoid detection from his probation officer. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on Kashas' phone and discovered 434 images and 104 videos of child pornography, including images of child pornography saved at the lockscreen and background of his device. The images and videos involved material that portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct, as well as prepubescent children and toddlers.

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 U.S. Attorneys' Offices and 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 Justice.gov/PSC.

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Kashas remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Kashas faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Sioux City Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.plLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link..

The case file number is 25-4069. Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.