Arthur, Iowa, Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

A man who received child pornography pled guilty August 20, 2025, in federal court in Sioux City.

Wesley Ham, 32, from Arthur, Iowa, was convicted of receipt of child pornography.  At the plea hearing, evidence showed that between March 2022, and September 2023, Ham received and possessed more than 94 images and 79 videos of child pornography.  A forensic review of Ham’s computer and phone showed he possessed 370 images and 3 videos of child pornography, some of which included infants and toddlers as well as sadistic and masochistic conduct.  Ham admitted to receiving and possessing child pornography but not distributing it, although Ham did admit to distributing child pornography in a state of Iowa case in 2022.  

Sentencing before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Ham remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing.  Ham faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years’ imprisonment and a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release following any imprisonment.  There is no parole in the federal system.

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.”

The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (Cyber Crime Bureau) and the Ida County Sheriff’s Office and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R Hamit.  

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 25-3017.  Follow us on X @USAO_NDIA.