Ryan T. Card Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Possession

A Caribou man is facing up to 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography on his cell phone over a five-month stretch in 2016 and 2017. Ryan T. Card, 22, entered his plea today in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, admitting to downloading and storing illegal images from online storage accounts.

According to federal court records, Card possessed the illicit material between November 2016 and April 2017. Among the files recovered by investigators was at least one image depicting a child under the age of 12—a fact that dramatically escalates the severity of the charges under federal law.

U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank confirmed the plea, emphasizing the disturbing nature of the material and the calculated effort by Card to seek out and preserve it. The images were not accidental downloads; they were deliberately searched for and saved, investigators say, pointing to intentional criminal behavior.

Card now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. In addition, he could be placed under federal supervision for anywhere from five years to the rest of his life following any prison term. Sentencing is pending the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.

The case was the result of a multi-agency investigation involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Caribou Police Department, and the Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Their combined digital forensics work led to the identification and arrest of Card.

This conviction underscores the relentless pursuit of predators who exploit children, even from remote corners of the country. For residents of northern Maine, the case is a grim reminder: no one is beyond the reach of federal law when child exploitation is involved.

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