ROCHESTER MAN ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING AND POSSESSING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Zachary Guthrie, 32, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with distributing and possessing child pornography, which carry a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 years, and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that in May and July 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received CyberTips from Instagram that child pornography was uploaded by a user utilizing an IP address in the Rochester, NY area. Subsequently, the uploads were traced back to Guthrie. On September 15, 2024, law enforcement received a report from Microsoft that Xbox user HeadStashClass made the following threat: “I'm gonna shoot up the local preschool tomorrow for the vine.” Once again, the post traced back Guthrie. In October 2024, a search warrant was executed at Guthrie’s residence, during which law enforcement seized a cell phone. An analysis of the phone recovered more than 200 videos and more than 320 images of child pornography.

In February 2025, NCMEC received another CyberTip from Instagram involving the online enticement of children for sexual acts. A 14-year-old female reported that she had sexually explicit conversations online with an individual later identified as Guthrie. In March 2025, the FBI National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) also received an anonymous tip identifying “Zachary Guthrie” as “soliciting for sex with minor” and “asking local sex workers in the area for girls 12 and under” after a Facebook user posted screenshots of the conversation on Facebook. And in April 2025, Facebook submitted a CyberTip involving child sex trafficking. According to Facebook, a user sent sexually explicit messages to an adult female via Facebook Messenger, offering money to perform sexual acts on her “kid.” Once again, the message traced back to Guthrie.

Guthrie made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Colleen D. Holland and was held pending a detention hearing on August 29, 2025.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Kevin Sucher, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.