Jury convicts man of sexual exploitation for sharing videos of children

A Polk County jury convicted a Des Moines man Wednesday of 11 counts of sexual exploitation for sharing sexually explicit videos of children. 

Grant Adam Mead, 33, was accused of sending video files through social media. MediaLab/Kik had reported the exchange of videos to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Des Moines police traced the videos back to the defendant. Some of the 11 victims depicted in the videos were under 10 years old.  

The jury deliberated for about four hours Wednesday before pronouncing Mr. Mead guilty on all 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor – promote film. Each of the counts is a class D felony, for a potential sentence of up to 55 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for June 21. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant County Attorney Meggan Guns and intern Monica Petig and assisted by Kayla McKee. Officer Steven Bjurstrom of the Des Moines Police Department led the investigation.