Local Man Hammered with 600-Month Prison Sentence for Sexual Exploitation of Children and Tax Fraud

GALVESTON, Texas – A local man has been ordered to federal prison for 50 years following his conviction of sexual exploitation of children and for knowingly making a false claim in the nature of preparing and filing a false tax return, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez along with Special Agent in Charge D. Richard Goss of IRS-Criminal Investigation (CI) and Special Agent in Charge Perrye K. Turner of the FBI. Benjamin Douglas Guidry pleaded guilty Sept. 29, 2016.

Today, U.S. District Judge George C. Hanks Jr. handed Guidry 270 months for each count of production of child pornography in addition to another 60-months for the tax fraud. The sentences were all ordered to run consecutively for a total 600-month-term of federal imprisonment.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Hanks called Guidry the worst kind of predator and said what he did was absolutely horrific. “You solicited the trust, admiration and respect of victims and turned around and used that for your own gratification.” He also noted that if Guidry was willing to do this to children he knew and supposedly loved, he didn’t want to think about what Guidry would be willing to do those he didn’t know.

Guidry was further ordered to pay $201,454 in restitution to the IRS. He will be on supervised release for the rest of life following completion of the prison term, during which time he will have to comply with numerous requirements designed to restrict his access to children and the Internet. He will also be ordered to register as a sex offender.

According to the plea agreement filed in the record of the case and to statements made in court, the IRS had been investigating Guidry for possible tax offenses. In May 2015, authorities executed a search warrant at Guidry’s place of business, Financial Precision Group, at which time they seized several computers and boxes of documents. Agents noticed, among other things, that several files on Guidry’s external hard drive had titles that led the IRS to believe they may contain child pornography. Authorities also noticed text messages on his cell phone that appeared to be inappropriate communications with a minor and a video of a minor.

The FBI joined the investigation and later executed a search warrant at Guidry’s residence. During that search, authorities found items present in the video on Guidry’s cell phone, including clothes worn by one of identified minor victims in the video. They also seized a cell phone and multiple computers.

Guidry was arrested at that time.

On two of Guidry’s external hard drives, authorities ultimately discovered a total of at least 164 images and 28 videos of child pornography. Additionally, a cell phone contained at least three videos of child pornography. One of the videos shows one of the minor victims being penetrated by an adult male. That video contains sounds from the victim demonstrating that the minor, who was protesting what was being done to her, was under the influence of a drug or was deeply sleeping. Another victim discovered she had been recorded on two separate occasions, once via a cell phone propped on the back of a toilet and again by an iPad propped up in the same location.

As to the tax offense, Guidry also agreed the intended income tax loss was between $250,000 and $550,000.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI and IRS-Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sherri L. Zack and Charles J. Escher are prosecuting the case.