Please E-mail suggested additions, comments and/or corrections to Kent@MoreLaw.Com.
Help support the publication of case reports on MoreLaw
Date: 02-28-2023
Case Style:
United States of America v. Wesley Guard
Case Number: 1:22-cr-00105-MAD
Judge: Mae A. D'Agostino
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (Albany County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Albany
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Albany, New Yorki criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged receiving, transporting and possessing child pornography using the online social networking application Kik.
The trial evidence established that between September 2020 and April 2021, Wesley Guard, age 34, of Queensbury, New York, a registered sex offender, used the Kik Messenger application to receive child pornography from other Kik users. Guard then sent that child pornography to another Kik account under his control as a means of collecting the material. The child pornography the defendant received from other Kik users and transported between his various Kik accounts included numerous videos depicting the sexual exploitation of young children. The trial evidence 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.
Sentencing, which will be scheduled at a later date, will be held in Albany, before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino. Guard faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of at least 5 years, a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
The jury voted to acquit Guard of distributing child pornography to other Kik users.
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 this case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.
Outcome: Defendant was found guilty by a jury.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: