Sandwich National Guardsman Faces Child Porn Charges

SANDWICH, MA — A National Guardsman stationed in Sandwich is now in a jail cell following an arrest for child pornography charges.

Nicholas Wells, 43, is a Master Sergeant of the 102 Security Forces of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in Sandwich. He is charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

Wells was arrested on Thursday and, following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, agreed to voluntarily detention pending trial without prejudice.

According to the charging documents, Wells shared in chats on a messaging app that he was interested in minors. He also distributed videos depicting child pornography, officials said.

It is alleged that, following search warrants for Wells’ messaging application account and home, over 300 images and 100 videos depicting child pornography were located on Wells’ phone, along with evidence that Wells allegedly distributed over 70 videos depicting child pornography.

Both charges carry a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years, and up to a lifetime of supervised release, plus a hefty fine.