A Westland man is facing federal charges after he allegedly traded child pornography on the messaging app Kik.
Kevin Thomas Howard is facing two federal charges of possession of child pornography and receipt and distribution of child pornography.
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The FBI received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) on Dec. 8 about a Kik user who had files containing child pornography.
On July 2, 2025, the messaging platform Kik submitted a tip to NCMEC that a user had uploaded and shared seven videos in a private chat with another user that were flagged as apparent child pornography.
Kik also submitted a tip to NCMEC on Sept. 8 about a user sharing several videos in a private chat with another user that were also flagged by Kik as apparent child pornography.
According to court documents, some of the explicit videos included an infant.
Federal authorities said the two users in the tips Kik sent to NCMEC had the same email address associated with the accounts.
Authorities served a subpoena to Comcast on Dec. 8 for the IP address for the billing and subscriber information as it was assigned on Sept. 8. On Dec. 9, federal authorities learned that the subscriber was Howard, with his phone number associated with the account.
The FBI obtained a federal search warrant for his home in Westland and for his arrest. Howard was encountered in a traffic stop and was arrested on Dec. 16. His phone was seized from his car.
During an interview, the FBI said Howard admitted to using the email associated with the Kik accounts. He said he used Kik for several years and knew he was allegedly receiving and distributing child pornography.
He allegedly told FBI agents that he was a member of several groups that would trade child pornography, and he would often trade videos and images he obtained from others.
Howard is expected to appear in federal court on Dec. 22 at 1 p.m.