Former National Guardsman Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Pornography Possession

Davenport, IA – A Salem man was sentenced yesterday to 100 months in prison for possession of child pornography.

According to court records, law enforcement began investigating Jason Robert Wesely, 39, a former member of the Iowa National Guard, after receiving a cybertip from a social media platform in May 2020. The tip included descriptions of Wesely’s sexual conversations with an undercover agent, pretending to be a 14-year-old child. Further investigation revealed that Wesely belonged to a chat group where child pornography was shared among its members. Wesely admitted to belonging to the group and to viewing and sharing child pornography. Wesely was ultimately discharged from the Iowa National Guard.

Following his prison term, Wesely was ordered to serve eight years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. Homeland Security Investigations and the Iowa State Patrol investigated the case.

This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Childhood” initiative, which was started in 2006 as a nationwide effort to combine law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, community action, and public awareness in order to reduce the incidence of sexual exploitation of children. Any persons having knowledge of a child being sexually abused are encouraged to call the Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline at 1-800-284-7821.