Northern District of Georgia | Cartersville man sentenced to 20 years in prison for child pornography production

ROME, Ga. – Ian Alicea Prewett has been sentenced to federal prison for enticing children to engage in sex acts for the purpose of producing child pornography.

“Prewett is a sexual predator who enticed and victimized innocent children,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “His prosecution and conviction are examples of our office’s steadfast commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to identify and hold accountable individuals like Prewett, who seek to abuse the anonymity of the internet to sexually abuse vulnerable children.”

“This sentence represents a victory in the ongoing battle to protect our most vulnerable citizens – our children. This predator, who committed unspeakable atrocities against minors, will now face justice due to the severity of his crimes,” said Steven N. Schrank, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) operations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and its law enforcement partners will continue to use all available resources to find, arrest and prosecute those who seek to exploit children.”

According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: On several dates between 2020 and 2022, Ian Alicea Prewett uploaded sexually explicit digital images of minors to Instagram. Although Prewett attempted to conceal his online identity, federal agents identified him as the person who uploaded the images and obtained a warrant to search his home in May 2023. During the search, officers discovered a cell phone linked to the Instagram accounts Prewett used to distribute child pornography.

At the time officers executed the search warrant, Prewett was already awaiting trial in Cobb County, Georgia, on charges of statutory rape, child molestation and child enticement. These allegations stemmed from Prewett chatting with a 14-year-old girl on Instagram, asking her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself, and then performing sex acts on her.

Prior to his arrest in May 2023, Prewett used social media to entice numerous minors to create sexually explicit material and perform sex acts. One of his victims was a minor under the age of eight and lived in Great Britain. Prewett instructed her to send him photos and videos of her performing sex acts. Prewett also directed a minor from Mobile, Alabama to do the same and he later traveled to Alabama to meet, photograph and perform sex acts on the minor.

Ian Alicea Prewett, 31, of Cartersville, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William M. Ray II to 20 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Prewett was convicted of child sexual exploitation after pleading guilty on April 24, 2024.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Cobb County Police Department, the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Wiltshire Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Theodore S. Hertzberg and Calvin A. Leipold, III prosecuted the case.

This case was filed as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Attorney General launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country, Project Safe Childhood deploys federal, state, and local resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who exploit children. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

For more information, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.