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Press Release
ALBANY, NEW YORK – Wesley Guard, age 34, of Queensbury, New York, was sentenced today to 151 months in federal prison for receiving, transporting, and possessing child pornography using the online social networking application Kik. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and New York State Police (NYSP) Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli.
Guard was previously convicted after a four-day jury trial in February of 2023. The evidence at trial established that, between September 2020 and April 2021, Guard, a registered sex offender, used the Kik Messenger application to receive child pornography from others Kik users. Guard then transported that child pornography over the internet into other Kik accounts under his control as a means of collecting the material. The child pornography Guard received from other Kik users and transported between his various Kik accounts included numerous videos depicting the sexual exploitation of young children. The evidence at trial also established that, at the time of his arrest by law enforcement on April 29, 2021, Guard still possessed the child pornography he had received on Kik.
United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also sentenced Guard to 15 years of supervised release that will begin after Guard serves his term of imprisonment. Guard is a prior registered sex offender, and as a result of his conviction, Guard will again be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
This case was investigated by HSI, the NYSP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the NYSP Troop G Computer Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Kopita, Carling Dunham, and Adrian LaRochelle prosecuted the case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.