A Rochester man, Zachary Guthrie, 32, has been arrested and charged with distributing and possessing child pornography. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo and 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 stated that the investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received CyberTips from Instagram in May and July 2024 about child pornography uploads traced to an IP address in Rochester. These uploads were later linked to Guthrie.
On September 15, 2024, law enforcement received a report from Microsoft that an Xbox user named HeadStashClass made a threat online: “im gonna shoot up the local preschool tomorrow for the vine.” This post was also traced back to Guthrie. In October 2024, authorities executed a search warrant at his residence and seized a cell phone containing more than 200 videos and over 320 images of child pornography.
Further investigation revealed additional incidents involving Guthrie. In February 2025, NCMEC received another CyberTip from Instagram related to online enticement of children for sexual acts involving a 14-year-old female who had sexually explicit conversations with Guthrie online. In March 2025, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received an anonymous tip alleging that “Zachary Guthrie” was “soliciting for sex with minor” and asking local sex workers about girls aged 12 or younger; these allegations surfaced after screenshots were posted on Facebook. In April 2025, Facebook submitted another CyberTip regarding suspected child sex trafficking when messages offering money for sexual acts with a child were traced back to Guthrie.
Guthrie appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Colleen D. Holland and is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for August 29, 2025.
The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm, New York State Police led by Major Kevin Sucher, and NCMEC.
“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.”
