An Alabama man was sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison after he admitted to transporting child pornography, federal officials said.

A federal judge sentenced Nathaniel David Struening, 43, of Buhl, Alabama, on charges of transportation and possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

U.S. District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Struening to 188 months in prison followed by supervised release for life.

Struening was also ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution to the child victims.

Struening pled guilty in November 2023 to one count of transportation of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

In 2020, FBI Milwaukee, in collaboration with the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, was investigating numerous groups of individuals engaged in the receipt, possession, distribution and possible production of child sexual abuse material through a proactive operation.

As part of the FBI’s operation, online covert employees documented these illegal activities and forwarded the documentation for further investigation to the appropriate FBI field office.

According to court documents, Struening transported child pornography in a group on the social media application, Kik. Federal search warrants were obtained for Struening’s Kik account and his residence where several electronic devices were seized. Additional child pornography was found in his possession.

The FBI Birmingham’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTTF) investigated the case, along with the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Division of the FBI, Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), Homewood Police Department, and Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White prosecuted the case.