GM man gets 12 child pornography charges added on to existing case

Published 6:06 pm Friday, September 22, 2023

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A Grand Meadow man already facing three gross misdemeanor charges of interfering with privacy – installing or using a surreptitious device, is now facing 12 new charges of felony possessing pornographic work involving minors.

The charges came as part of an amended case this week and revolve around computers, SD cards and other devices found in a search of the residence Nicholas Adam Sneed, 45, was staying in Grand Meadow.

According to court documents, the Mower County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to uploads of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) by the Internet Crimes Against Children in early December of 2022.

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The report included three files of CSAM uploaded to a Dropbox account in July of 2022, which was later connected to Sneed  through an email address associated with the uploads containing Sneed’s initials and date of birth.

Court documents state that a MCSO detective secured the search warrant for the residence in Grand Meadow in late December of last year, where he made contact with Sneed, who allegedly admitted that the email address associated with the uploads belonged to him.

During the search of the residence, a safe was turned up and after he was directed to open the safe, Sneed allegedly tried reaching in and grabbing items. He later lunged and closed the safe, but then provided the code to open it.

The SD cards were discovered inside along with two laptops, which appeared to be missing pieces, and an iPad that appeared to be a factory reset. All three devices were shipped off to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for further investigation.

In July of this year, the BCA returned its results from the devices, along with six other cell phones found at the residence, which had turned up several pieces of CSAM involving girls under the age of 14.

Sneed’s next court appearance is a pre-trial hearing on Monday, however, he is also facing six total felony charges and three gross misdemeanor charges related to drug possession and being a violent felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.