Wesson Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography

 Jackson, Miss. – Gunner Nathaniel Speed, 25, of Wesson, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to possession of child pornography, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Jack P. Stanton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New Orleans.

On November 15, 2019, Speed was stopped by the Flowood Police Department for a traffic violation. He was found to have over 150 pictures and videos portraying children having sex and simulated sex with adult males on his cell phone.

Speed was charged in a federal criminal indictment on June 10, 2020. He is scheduled for sentencing on June 3, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.   

The case is part of a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Flowood Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Erin Chalk.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc.