Manchester Woman Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Charge

CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE—Erin Upham, 21, of Manchester, pled guilty In United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to one count of sexual exploitation of children, announced United States Attorney John P. Kacavas.

The investigation began in 2013 when the Manchester Police received information from the United States Air Force, Office of Special Investigations that the defendant, a resident of Manchester, was communicating with a member of the armed services who was stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. Specifically, the Air Force special agents informed the Manchester Police that they had information that the defendant’s communication was of a sexual nature and involved a minor child. A federal search warrant was obtained for the search and seizure of various electronic items belonging to the defendant, including a laptop and cell phones. A forensic examination of the items revealed digital images of the defendant and a minor child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The defendant is facing a minimum term of fifteen years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29, 2014, at 10:30.

The charge was the result of an investigation by the United States Air Force-Office of Special Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Manchester and Derry Police Departments and is being prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Helen White Fitzgibbon who is the U.S. Attorney’s coordinator for Project Safe Childhood.