David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced on August 28, 2026, that RUDOLPH GIRDHARI, 36, of Norwalk, Connecticut, was sentenced (August 27), by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 123 months of imprisonment and a lifetime of supervised release for possessing child sex abuse material.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in May 2012, Girdhari was convicted in state court of possession of child pornography in the second degree, and was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment, execution suspended after two years, and 20 years of probation. In 2022 and 2023, an FBI investigation of individuals trading child sex abuse images and videos on Wickr, an encrypted communication service, determined that an email address connected to Girdhari was being used to access two child pornography trading networks on Wickr.
On May 2, 2024, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Girdhari’s residence and seized numerous electronic devices including phones, tablets, computers, hard drives, and thumb drives. Analysis of the seized devices revealed more than 2,000 images and videos of child sex abuse.
Girdhari has been detained since May 16, 2024, when he was arrested for violating his state probation. On December 3, 2025, he pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of child pornography.
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This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Office of Adult Probation and the Norwalk Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anastasia E. King.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com