Former Grand Island teacher indicted in federal court

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - The Hall County Attorney’s Office has dismissed its case against a former Grand Island teacher. This comes after a Federal Grand Jury indicted Brian Mohr on July 24.

Mohr, 38, was indicted on charges related to the receipt and possession of child pornography in Grand Island.

The charges resulted from an investigation the Grand Island Police Department conducted with assistance from the Department of Homeland Security. The Hall County Attorney’s Office also filed charges against Mohr related to his possession of child pornography as a result of this investigation.

In light of the Federal Indictment, the Hall County Attorney’s Office dismissed its case against Mohr; considering primarily, the differences between sentencing structure in the federal and state criminal justice systems.

In the federal system, a criminal defendant will serve roughly 80 percent of an imposed prison sentence as compared to the 50 percent of an imposed prison sentence a criminal defendant would serve at the state level.

The Hall County Attorney’s Office determined the ends of justice are best served by allowing the case against Mohr to proceed in Federal Court, unencumbered by our office’s prosecution.

Mohr had pleaded not guilty in April 2020 and was expected to go on trial next month.

He was arrested in January 2020 after Grand Island Police said he was found to be in possession of 34 images of child pornography. The identities and ages of these victims were confirmed to be under the age of 19 years old.

GIPD said Mohr admitted to investigators that he knew he was in possession child pornography.

Police arrested Mohr in connection with an investigation into Grand Island Northwest high school student Max Rookstool. He was 17 at the time of his arrest.

Rookstool is charged with one count of first degree sexual assault, two counts of human trafficking, two counts of human trafficking of a minor, 11 counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and one count of unlawful distribution of images or videos of another person’s intimate area.

The 18-year-old has pleaded not guilty to each charge.

His preliminary hearing is set for September 3 at 1:30 p.m. with his jury trial scheduled for October 5 at 9 a.m.

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