Former Iowa City library employee sentenced to 14 years in prison for child pornography

Jeffrey Alan Guentert, a 57-year-old former Iowa City library employee, was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography. In March 2025, he pleaded guilty to receiving over 6,500 items of child sexual abuse material, including more than 5,000 photos and 1,500 videos, from 2019 to 2023. Authorities recovered 87 electronic devices from his home, estimating that at least 44 contained child pornography. Guentert was found downloading this material while connected to the library's network. During the investigation, he attempted to dispose of a storage drive hidden in a coworker's desk, highlighting his attempts to evade law enforcement.

His attorney sought a 10-year sentence, emphasizing Guentert's childhood trauma and absence of prior convictions. The court deemed the content on Guentert's devices "horrific" and described his desire for such material as "all-consuming. " After completing his prison term, he will face five years of supervised release, with no chance for parole in the federal system.