Timothy T. Duax U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa
Anthony Girard, a 39-year-old resident of Sioux City, Iowa, pleaded guilty on November 12, 2025, in federal court to receiving child pornography. According to information presented at the plea hearing, Girard admitted to receiving and possessing child pornography between September 2023 and January 13, 2025.
Investigators found that Girard used proactive file sharing services to exchange more than 13,000 files of investigative interest over two years. Agents across Iowa traced his IP address to thousands of files containing child pornography during 2023 and 2024. Authorities noted significant periods when the IP address was inactive; Girard explained these gaps were due to fluctuations in his sex life.
Girard also admitted that he deleted file sharing applications from his phone while driving home on January 13, 2025, as law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence. The materials linked to Girard’s file sharing included images depicting infants and toddlers as well as content involving sadistic and masochistic conduct.
Sentencing will take place before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand after completion of a presentence report. Girard is currently held by the United States Marshal while awaiting sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum prison term of five years and could receive up to twenty years’ imprisonment, along with a $250,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release following any incarceration.
