Hawkeye Reporter

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 that between September 2023 and January 13, 2025, he received and possessed child pornography. He used file sharing services to exchange more than 13,000 files of investigative interest over two years. Law enforcement agents from across Iowa traced thousands of files of child pornography to Girard’s IP address during investigations in 2023 and 2024. Authorities noticed periods when the IP address was inactive; Girard explained these gaps were due to changes in his sex life. He also acknowledged deleting 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 shared included depictions involving infants and toddlers as well as content depicting sadistic and masochistic conduct.

Sentencing for Girard will take place before United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand after completion of a presentence report. Girard remains in custody pending sentencing. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and up to twenty years’ imprisonment, along with a potential fine of $250,000 and at least five years of supervised release following incarceration.