Editor's note: This story contains graphic sexual descriptions. Read at your discretion.
A Reliance, Wyoming, man who was originally accused of having images of sexually exposed children, babies, toddlers and deceased children has been sentenced to between 22 and 27 years in prison.
Justin Ernest Golay, 34, received the sentence after pleading “no contest” to 23 of the 54 child pornography charges filed against him, says a Tuesday order by Sweetwater County District Court Judge Lavery.
At Golay’s April 8 sentencing hearing, Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe had argued for a sentence of between 138 and 230 years in prison.
Ultimately, Golay didn’t plead to the more unique child-pornography counts, which accused him of harboring lewd images of dead children.
Those charges were among the 30 counts dismissed at Golay’s sentencing.
Had he been convicted on those, it may have raised legal questions, of whether Wyoming’s child-pornography charges apply when the victims are no longer alive, Erramouspe noted in a Tuesday interview.
The state also does not have necrophilia statutes.
Since Last Autumn
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children relayed an X Corp cybertip of online pedophilia activity to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in October, says an evidentiary affidavit filed in the case.
DCI Agent Joel Greene was assigned to the case.
He reviewed the flagged uploads, which depicted child-victimizing sex acts, and identified their associated IP addresses, which traced back to Golay’s cellphone number, says the affidavit.
The discovery led to more investigation.
Disturbing Discoveries
DCI executed a search warrant on Golay’s home and devices Dec. 17, according another case affidavit.
Agents found files in his devices depicting a dead, prepubescent girl lying face-down on a silver-colored metal autopsy table with an adult displaying her genital area, which was injured and torn as if it had suffered “severe trauma,” says the document.
Other files showed more reported necrophiliac and pedophiliac activity, such as a prepubescent dead girl with blood “near” her head, right arm, face and left hand; her inner thighs scraped; her groin exposed and other signs of sexual attack, Greene wrote in the affidavit.
Rock Springs Police Department Detective Matt Jones extracted data from Golay’s cellphone. He found several chat conversations on various platforms in which Golay talked with “like-minded” people and shared child sex imagery, the document says.
Greene wrote that Golay shared with a chat companion a nearly five-minute video showing a (living) prepubescent girl being victimized.
“The child appeared to disassociate herself from the entire incident as she blankly stared off into space,” wrote Greene.
The document says Golay shared another video showing an adult female victimizing a male toddler, and holding his legs down as he tried to kick her away.
The affidavit describes infant and toddler sexual abuse image materials, and a video of a child performing a sex act on a dog.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
