An Ida County Iowa man has been sentenced in federal court for child pornography offenses.
Thirty-two‑year‑old Wesley Ham of Arthur was sentenced Friday in Sioux City to more than eight years in prison after pleading guilty last August to receipt of child pornography.
Evidence presented in court showed that between March 2022 and September 2023, Ham received and possessed hundreds of illegal images and videos, some involving infants and toddlers and depicting violent conduct.
Ham also admitted to distributing child pornography in a separate Iowa case in 2022, where he acknowledged attempting to generate encounters with minors in public spaces and lingering near residential areas to secretly watch people.
U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Strand handed down a 97‑month prison term, followed by five years of supervised release. Ham was also ordered to pay $10,500 in restitution to victims. He remains in U.S. Marshal custody until transfer to a federal prison.
The case was investigated by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Cyber Crime Bureau and the Ida County Sheriff’s Office.
