Brad Schimel, First Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, announced that on September 22, 2026, Nolan M. Pitsch, (age 32) of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was sentenced to six years in federal prison by Chief United States District Judge Pamela Pepper.
According to court documents and arguments presented in court, Pitsch met multiple children on various social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat. While chatting online with these minors, Pitsch pretended to be 14 or 15 years old, but in reality, he was approximately 30 years old. He then convinced several girls between the ages of 11 and 15 whom he met on these platforms to take and send him images and videos of themselves posed in sexually explicit positions. In at least one instance, he threatened to expose a minor victim’s explicit images to others if she stopped sending him sexually explicit depictions of herself.
At his sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Pepper described Pitsch’s crimes as extremely heinous. She emphasized that these offenses have a lasting impact on real human beings, that Pitsch hurt real children, and that this hurt will stay with the victims forever. Upon completion of his federal prison sentence, the defendant will spend five years on supervised release. He will also have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
“We have no higher priority than protecting our children,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Schimel, “and we should all be proud of the investigators and prosecutors who work every day to bring predators like this to justice.”
“Pitsch hid behind fake profiles to manipulate children, coerce them into producing sexually explicit images, and threaten them when they tried to stop,” said HSI Chicago Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino. “HSI and our law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue predators who exploit children online and ensure they are held accountable for the lasting harm they cause.”
This case was investigated by the Sheboygan Police Department and by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Megan J. Thomas and Trial Attorney William G. Clayman, formerly of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS).
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006, by the U.S. Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
# # #
For further information contact:
Public Affairs Officer Steve Caballero
(414) 297-1700
Follow us on X
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office — Eastern District of Wisconsin — U.S. Department of Justice press release.