Three Men Sentenced to Prison in Child Pornography Cases

RENO—Two Reno men and a Carson City man were sentenced this week to lengthy prison terms for their convictions on federal child pornography charges, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.

“Each time a person receives, views, and downloads child pornography, they victimize the children depicted in the images,” said U.S. Attorney Bogden. “Congress noted in 2006 that the illegal production, transportation, distribution, receipt, advertising, and possession of child pornography, as well as the transfer of custody of children for the production of child pornography, is harmful to the physiological, emotional, and mental health of the children depicted in child pornography and has a substantial and detrimental effect on society as a whole.”

Anthony Gilbert Thompson, 24, of Reno, was sentenced on Thursday, May 31, 2012 to 10 years in prison and lifetime supervision. Thompson pleaded guilty on February 16, 2012 to one count of possession of child pornography. Thompson was arrested by Nevada Parole and Probation Officers in November 2011 after he was located in a hotel room in Reno with a computer that contained child pornography. Some of the images depicted prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Thompson has a prior 2009 federal conviction in Nevada for possession of child pornography.

Joseph Guintoli, 66, of Reno, was sentenced on Thursday, May 31, 2012 to 97 months in prison and lifetime supervised release. Guintoli pleaded guilty on January 5, 2012 to one count of receipt of child pornography. Guintoli used multiple Internet websites to search for and download thousands of images of child pornography. He engaged in this conduct over a very lengthy period of time amassing a collection of child pornography that was estimated to be over 20,000 files.

Ryan Mills, 37, of Carson City, was sentenced on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 to 6 ½ years in prison and 25 years of supervised release. Mills is a former corrections officer with the state of Nevada and pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. In December 2010, the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a federal search warrant at Mill’s home and seized a number of items, including a computer and other electronic devices belonging to Mills. The forensic review of these electronic devices established that Mills possessed and received over 1,400 videos and 500 images of child pornography through peer-to-peer programs using the Internet. These images included depictions of prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including sadistic and masochistic conduct. Mills was later interviewed by investigators, and he admitted to using peer-to-peer file sharing software to locate, download, and receive child pornography over the Internet.

The investigations were conducted by members of the ICAC and Innocent Images Task Forces, including the FBI, U.S. ICE Homeland Security Investigations, Nevada Attorney General’s Office, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and the Carson City Sheriff’s Office. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carla Higginbotham.

The cases were 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.”