(Cedar Rapids) – A man who traveled from Minnesota to Iowa to have sex with minors was sentenced (Friday) to 27 years in federal prison. 51-year old Terrance Nordwall, of Faribault, Minnesota, received the sentence after an October 31, 2019, jury verdict finding him guilty of attempted sex trafficking of children, attempted enticement of minors, and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

The evidence at trial showed that, in March and April of 2019, Nordwall exchanged text messages with a man who he believed was a “pimp” with a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl available. The man was actually an undercover law enforcement officer. Nordwall agreed to pay the pimp $200 for a half hour with the two girls, and he drove to the Cedar Rapids area, where he met law enforcement officers.

In 2004, in Minnesota, Nordwall was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree, and possession of pornographic work involving minors. Nordwall was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Nordwall was sentenced to 324 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $300 was imposed, and Nordwall must also serve a 5-year term of supervised release. He must comply with all sex offender registration and public
notification requirements.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Tremmel and was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Hiawatha Police Department. This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”