SIOUX CITY – This Iowa man got 97 months in federal prison after cops raided his home and he feverishly deleted apps off his phone to try and escape justice.
Anthony Girard (pictured at top), age 40, from Sioux City, Iowa, was sentenced today to 97 months’ imprisonment. Girard pled guilty to receiving child pornography on November 12, 2025, in federal court in Sioux City.
Evidence at the plea and sentencing hearings showed that from September 2023 through January 13, 2025, Girard received and possessed child pornography. Girard admitted he used file sharing services to exchange over 24,000 files over the course of two years. During the investigation, agents from around Iowa were able to connect Girard’s IP address to thousands of files of child pornography in 2023 and 2024. Agents searched his home and electronic devices on January 13, 2025. Girard admitted he deleted file sharing apps off his phone while driving home on January 13, 2025, as law enforcement officers searched his home. Girard possessed child pornography that included depictions of infants and toddlers as well as sadistic and masochistic conduct. Girard also has a prior conviction in South Dakota state court for sexual contact without consent.
United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand sentenced Girard to 97 months’ imprisonment along with a five-year term of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Girard was ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to the victims in the case and $1,100 in fines and assessments. Girard remains in custody of the United States Marshal until he can be transported to a federal prison.
This case was 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 http://www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about Internet safety education, please visit http://www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”
The case was investigated by the Sioux City Police Department and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kraig R. Hamit.