David John Groth

Introduction

David John Groth, a 38-year-old Omaha man identified in the sentencing announcement as a former vocal music teacher at Bellevue East High School, was sentenced on October 30, 2026, to 168 months in federal prison — fourteen years — for receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse material. FBI agents recovered 110 videos and 30 images of child pornography across his Kik accounts and another 38 images and 71 videos on his iPhone, with material depicting the abuse of children as young as toddlers and infants. The case began with twelve CyberTip reports from the chat platform Kik to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Background Information

The investigation moved from the platform to the man: between October 5, 2024, and April 30, 2025, Kik, an electronic service provider, made twelve CyberTiplines reports to NCMEC, each flagging a user who uploaded and then distributed child-sexual-abuse videos to another Kik user through the app’s chat function. Location information associated with every one of the twelve tips resolved to Groth’s residence in Nebraska. A task force officer with the FBI, working through investigative legal process, then located the files across Groth’s related Kik accounts, observed pictures of Groth himself inside the accounts, and confirmed he was the person sending the files. The case was prosecuted under the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood initiative and investigated by the FBI.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. Groth was convicted of receipt and distribution of child pornography and sentenced on October 30, 2026, by United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr.; the conviction and sentence are matters of court record.

What agents found in the accounts went beyond file counts. Groth discussed his sexual attraction to children and the sexual abuse of children with other Kik users, and invited users to connect with him on Telegram to exchange more child pornography. On August 7, 2025, agents executed a search warrant at his residence in Bellevue and seized computers, hard drives, and cell phones. A forensic analysis of his iPhone found 38 child-pornography images and 71 videos. The material recovered from his Kik accounts and phone depicted the sexual abuse and exploitation of pubescent and prepubescent children, toddlers, and infants, and included sadistic and masochistic conduct and images of children being bound and led around on a leash.

Judge Rossiter sentenced Groth to 168 months’ imprisonment, with a six-year term of supervised release to begin after prison, and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to each of two identified victims plus a $5,000 special assessment under the Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Victim Assistance Act of 2018, which channels payments to a fund compensating victims of child sexual abuse material. There is no parole in the federal system.

Public Reaction and Consequences

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods of the District of Nebraska framed the sentence bluntly: “It is a victory for Nebraska every single time that a sex offender of this kind is taken off our streets, out of neighborhoods, and kept locked up and away from our children.” The announcement identifies Groth by his former teaching post at Bellevue East High School, and the sentence lands in a district that has run a string of Project Safe Childhood prosecutions in 2026. The consequences are the fourteen-year term, six years of supervised release, restitution payments to the two identified victims, and a federal sex-offense conviction that will carry lifetime sex-offender registration obligations after release.

Current Status

Groth is beginning his 168-month sentence, to be followed by six years of supervised release. The announcement reports no appeal and no additional charges, making the October 30, 2026 sentencing the latest word in the public record.

Impact on Their Career/Life

His teaching career is over; the announcement identifies him as a former teacher, and a federal child-exploitation conviction forecloses any role around children for life, with registration requirements that follow him for decades after his release in the early 2040s. The restitution and assessment obligations attach to him alongside the supervised-release term, and any violation of that term can return him to prison without a new trial.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Nebraska, “Former Bellevue East High School Vocal Music Teacher Sentenced to 168 Months for Receipt and Distribution of Child Pornography,” November 2, 2026. source