Alda man gets 20 years on federal child porn charges

LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) - An Alda man will head to federal prison for 20 years on two counts of attempted production of child pornography.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Michael Melgaard, 54, was sentenced in Lincoln on Thursday for the charges. Besides the 20 years, he will also serve 10 years of supervised release. Additionally, he is ordered to pay $6,000, which will contribute to funds established for victims of these types of crimes. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case began in January of 2022, during a separate investigation involving Melgaard. As a result of this investigation, several search warrants were executed for Melgaard’s home and electronic devices. Melgaard’s devices were downloaded and forensically analyzed.

Approximately 14 images that met the federal definition of child pornography were located. During the investigation, Melgaard agreed to be interviewed multiple times. He admitted that he had been taking nude photographs of several minors aged 4-11. These photographs would happen while the minor victims would change their clothes, showered, or while they were asleep. He indicated that he would keep the images for a short period of time before deleting them.

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 Department of Justice.

This case was investigated by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the Grand Island Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security.