5 Iowa men sentenced to nearly 44 years combined for trading child pornography

DES MOINES, Iowa – Five men in southern Iowa were sentenced recently in separate prosecutions to nearly 44 years in prison combined for their unrelated roles in trading online child pornography.

These sentences resulted from a multi-agency initiative led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), in cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa, and the Iowa police departments of Albia, Creston, Grinnell, Marshalltown and Osceola.

This investigation centered on trading child pornography images and videos on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The following five defendants were charged and convicted in separate prosecutions, and were sentenced to a combined total of 43 years and eight months in prison:

• Monroe Francisco Zayas (Marshalltown, Iowa), 20 years;
• Monroe Wardlow (Grinnell, Iowa), eight years;
• Enrique Guzman (Osceola, Iowa), six years and eight months;
• William Trimble, Jr. (Albia, Iowa), five years;
• Michael Hanold (Creston, Iowa), four years.

After they serve their prison sentences, each man must also register as a sex offender, and serve at least five years on supervised release.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.