Master Sergeant in Mass. National Guard indicted on child porn charges, feds say

SANDWICH, Mass. — A high-ranking Massachusetts National Guardsman station on Cape Cod was indicted by a federal grand jury on child porn charges Thursday.

43-year-old Nicholas Wells, a Master Sergeant of the 102 Security Forces of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in Sandwich, was indicted for possession and distribution of child porn, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

Charging documents say Wells possessed more than 300 images and 100 videos depicting child pornography on his phone and distributed more than 70 videos. Some of the material recovered allegedly involved infants.

According to investigators, Wells engaged in chats on a messaging app, discussing his interest in minors along with distributing obscene images and videos of children.

At his initial appearance in federal court in Boston, on October 24, Wells agreed to be voluntarily detained pending trial without prejudice.

The National Guard told Boston 25 Wells enlisted with the National Guard in April 2021 before he was removed from his full-time position and barred from Otis Air National Guard Base.

The charge of possessing child pornography provides for a sentence up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000.  The charge of distributing child pornography provides for a sentence of not less than five years and not more than 20 years, five years to life of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

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