GRETNA, Neb. -- A 39-year-old Gretna man was sentenced to 36 years in prison for child pornography charges. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr said Christopher Groth was sentenced in Lincoln on Monday for one count of production of child porn and one count of possession of child porn. 

Groth was sentenced to 36 years and will serve 20 years on supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Groth was also ordered to pay $3,000 special assessment, which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes.

The court said this case started in February of 2022 with an investigation by the FBI into several cyber tips from Yahoo! which showed Groth was uploading child porn onto his email accounts.

After getting a search warrant, it was determined that several of the images located on the account were likely original productions created by Groth involving a child which depicted sexually explicit conduct.

Authorities said a residential search warrant and arrest warrant were executed immediately following this discovery.

Groth, who was found to be a police officer with the Omaha Police Department, was arrested while at work without incident and soon after removed from his position with OPD.

A review of Groth’s devices and accounts done by the FBI revealed eight images, which were produced by Groth, on two occasions in 2020 involving a single child victim.

The court said Groth emailed these images to himself in February 2021 as a method of saving the files.

The FBI found more than 700 images of child exploitation files showing unidentified children on Groth’s phone and email account, which appears he got them online and subsequently saved using his email account.

“No one is above the law,” said Lehr. “Mr. Groth’s crime was committed against the most vulnerable of our society, a child. The sentence imposed by Judge Gerrard reflects the seriousness of Groth’s conduct and hopefully acts as deterrent for others. The United States Attorney’s Office thanks the FBI for its quick actions in this case as well as OPD for their cooperation and responsiveness.”

After the sentencing, “In an appalling and heinous way, Christopher Groth violated his sworn oath as a police officer by victimizing children," said Eugene Kowel, Special Agent in Charge. "Today’s sentence ensures that he is held accountable for his actions. Investigating this type of crime is one of the Bureau’s highest priorities and FBI Omaha will remain relentless in our pursuit to protect children from predators.”

This case was investigated by the FBI.