Myrtle Beach Man Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today that Justin Nicholas Guerra, age 23, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Florence, South Carolina, for possession of child pornography, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(5)(B). United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten of Florence sentenced Guerra to 120 months’ imprisonment, five years’ supervised release, and Guerra has been ordered to register as a sex offender.

Evidence presented at the change of plea hearing established that in January 2011, the FBI in Connecticut signed into a GigaTribe file sharing program using a username obtained as a result of an identification takeover. Guerra was logged into the network and the FBI downloaded Guerra’s files containing child pornography. A search was conducted of the defendant’s residence in Myrtle Beach, in March 2011. The forensic review of the computers taken during the search revealed 316 thumbnail photos and 21 movies of child pornography. Investigation revealed that Guerra was using GigaTribe peer-to-peer software to download images of child pornography and was sharing child pornography on the Internet.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ 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 www.justice.gov/psc.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Florence office handled the case.