West Point cadet gets over eight years in prison on child pornography charges

From www.midhudsonnews.com

WHITE PLAINS – A former West Point cadet has been sentenced in federal court to 97 months in prison for receipt, distribution and possession of child pornography.

Ricky Patrick Hester, 25, was sentenced on Wednesday.

On December 18, 2013 Hester was interviewed by federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations and he admitted that he had used his Yahoo! Email account to send child pornography, that his preference was for boys as young as four years old, and that he had used Dropbox to trade child pornography with others, and that he stored the images on his cell phone.

Hester’s cell phone was seized by agents on December 18, 2013 during a search of his West Point dorm room. It contained some 1,200 images and videos of children engaged in sexual activity.

Evidence at trial included approximately 100 emails sent or received by Hester. In many of them, he requested videos and images of “kids being forced to do stuff, “boys being tied up and peed on,” and “man boy hardcore.” In several emails, he indicated a preference for boys ages four to 10 years old.
Hester entered West Point as a cadet in August 2009. He took a sabbatical from August 2011 through August 2012 and returned in the fall of 2012. At the time of his arrest, on December 19, 2013, he was one semester away from graduation.

Hester, 25, lived in Granger, Indiana, from his arrest until his conviction. He was remanded following his conviction.