CEDAR RAPIDS — Last week, a Tama man was formally charged on four federal counts alleging that he possessed and distributed child pornography over a 5 ½ year period.

Jacob Samuel Yang, 36, was indicted on March 18 in the United States District Court in Cedar Rapids, according to a press release issued Monday. The indictment alleges that he distributed child pornography in March 2024 and that he received child pornography between September of 2019 and February of 2025, that he possessed child pornography on a hard drive between September of 2019 and February of 2025, and that he possessed child pornography on a cellular telephone between March of 2024 and April of 2024.

If convicted on all charges, Yang faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 80 years imprisonment, a $1 million fine, and a lifetime term of supervised release following any imprisonment.­ On Monday, the defendant appeared in federal court in Cedar Rapids and was held without bond.

Yang’s next appearance for trial is set for May 27, 2025. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Devra T. Hake and was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the Tama Police Department, and the Marshalltown Police Department.