OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced in a news release on Friday that Rolando E. Midder, 44, of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced Friday for sex trafficking of a minor and two counts of production of child pornography.
Here's what we know from the U.S. Attorney's office:
Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. imposed a life sentence on the sex trafficking charge, saying “‘egregious’ is too kind of a word” to describe Midder’s actions. Thirty years, the statutory maximum, was also imposed for each of the production charges.
Midder was convicted after a weeklong jury trial in June of 2023. The evidence at trial showed that Midder, who was living in a local Omaha hotel, invited a homeless minor female to live with him in February of 2022. Midder then began advertising the minor girl online and coordinating with individuals who responded to the ads to set up locations, places, and prices for commercial sex acts with the victim. These advertisements continued until Midder’s arrest on June 27, 2022.
After being rescued by law enforcement, the victim was observed to be extremely malnourished and had numerous bruises, burns, and scars. She disclosed that she had been raped by Midder, in addition to being physically abused. She expressed fear that Midder would kill her if he learned she had spoken with law enforcement.
Upon Midder’s arrest, a search warrant for his phone was obtained. In addition to ads created about the victim, and conversations arranging commercial sex acts with the victim, law enforcement located videos Midder had filmed, showing himself raping the minor victim.
Throughout the investigation and trial, law enforcement was aided by members of the public, who observed the victim with the defendant on several occasions and contacted law enforcement out of concerns for her safety and well-being.
Noting the defendant referred to “helping people” when addressing the court, Chief Judge Rossiter stated he did believe the defendant offering to help others was “the first step in taking advantage of them….” The Chief Judge then went on to describe this type of sex trafficking as “a world most people don’t know exists.”
After today’s sentencing, FBI Omaha Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel said, “Rolando Midder physically and sexually abused a minor to traffic her for commercial sex. Victims of this heinous crime feel trapped, unable to escape to freedom. Midder’s sentence today has taken away his freedom and his ability to hurt anyone again. The FBI will continue to work closely with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners on the front lines to bring human traffickers to justice.”
Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr added “the sentence in this case fits the horrendous actions this individual perpetrated on the victim.”
She further praised the FBI for doing a thorough investigation that permitted “our office to successfully prosecute the case without the terrorized victim having to come to court to be revictimized again, by having to face Midder and testify in front of him.”
She concluded, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecutes sex trafficking and production of child pornography cases and a sentence like this, that protects our community, is one of the reasons why.”
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 Attorney’s 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 [projectsafechildhood.gov]. Individuals wishing to report child abuse or neglect can call (800) 652-1999.
This case was investigated by the FBI Omaha’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.
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