RS man arrested for child porn

A Rock Springs man is facing a potential 240-year prison sentence if found guilty of possessing child pornography.

James Adam Gehring, 34, of Rock Springs, is charged with 24 felony counts of sexual exploitation of children.

“We are aware of approximately 2,000 images of child pornography,” Teresa Thybo, chief deputy Sweetwater County attorney said during Gehring’s initial appearance hearing Friday afternoon.

Thybo said the state decided not to charge for each alleged pornographic image because it would have overloaded their system, opting to file 24 charges instead. Each count carries with it a potential maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $10,000. He was arrested Wednesday following a joint investigation between the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation and the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office.

Gehring made his initial appearance before Circuit Court Judge Craig Jones through a video conference between the court and the Sweetwater County Detention Center, visibly crying as Jones read each charge against him.

Thybo said Gehring was a flight risk, which necessitated her recommendation to set bond at $250,000.

Thybo also claimed Gehring was a danger to the community, claiming multiple children were victimized in the images.

She recommended modified bond conditions which prohibit Gehring from having contact with minors. Jones agreed with both recommendations when he established Gehring’s bond at $250,000 cash or surety.

“I can’t make bond, I’m stuck here,” Gehring said.

According to court documents, the investigation began in November after Google tipped the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Gehring was using a Gmail email address to allegedly upload images of suspected child pornography. The center determined the incident possibly occurred near Green River and forwarded the tip to the Wyoming DCI.

As Wyoming DCI investigated, a special agent reviewed the tip and 11 other tips from Google regarding the email address and uploaded images from between Feb. 16, 2019 and Nov. 15, 2019.

On Jan. 3, DCI served Google with a search warrant to obtain the account and was provided with its contents. A folder titled “Drive 2” associated with the account contained 1,024 images and videos, most of which were found to be child pornography. Other folders within the primary Drive 2 folder also contained hundreds of images featuring child pornography.

On March 6, a warrant submitted to CenturyLink requesting customer information and usage history for the previous 180 days. Using the address listed Gehring’s Wyoming Identification Card, agents determined the CenturyLink account information to be his wife’s name and agents compared the IP address history with the information from Google. A subsequent warrant served to Verizon Wireless for an 871 cellphone number also linked the phone with IP addresses recorded accessing the email account. During a May 27 interview between DCI agents and Gehring, he admitted to creating the Gmail account and having access to the 871 phone number up to December 2019 and having CenturyLink access through his wife’s account. Court documents also state he admitted to downloading approximately 3,000 images and videos featuring child pornography.

He also remembered the account being suspended and creating a different email address to access his collection through a Drop Box account.

Gehring claimed he suffers from a pornography addiction.