Former Scituate Resident Pleads Guilty to Possessing and Distributing Child Pornography
Robert Brown, Jr., Faces a Minimum of Five Years in Federal Prison
| U.S. Attorney’s Office August 06, 2013 |
PROVIDENCE, RI—Robert Brown, Jr., 42, formerly of Scituate, pleaded guilty in federal court in Providence today to possessing nearly 2,300 images and more than 30 videos depicting child pornography involving prepubescent children, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the FBI.
Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith, Brown pleaded guilty as charged in a federal indictment returned in December 2012 to three counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. No plea agreement was filed in this matter.
According to information presented to the court, beginning in September 2009, an undercover FBI agent from the San Diego Division logged on to online file-sharing programs often used for the sharing of child pornography. The agent was friended by Brown and was permitted by the defendant to access his files. On at least three occasions, the FBI agent accessed Brown’s files and downloaded files containing images and videos depicting child pornography.
The investigation revealed that Brown was accessing and sharing the files from an Internet address subscribed to him at his Scituate residence. In May 2010, FBI agents executed a court-authorized search of Brown’s residence and seized three laptop computers, 19 hard drives and portable digital storage memory cards, computer disks and thumb drives, a web camera, and a digital camera.
A forensic examination by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children of the items seized revealed 2,297 images and 32 videos containing images of known children identified in 80 series depicting child pornography.
Brown, who is currently free on unsecured bond, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 23, 2013. At sentencing, Brown faces statutory penalties of a minimum mandatory five years and up to 20 years in federal prison followed by a mandatory five years of supervised release for distribution of child pornography; and up to 10 years in prison followed by a mandatory five years of supervised release for possession of child pornography.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.