Westerly Man Convicted of Possessing and Distributing Child Pornography

PROVIDENCE, RI—A U.S. District Court jury in Providence on Wednesday convicted David Chiaradio, 28, of Westerly, Rhode Island, of one count of distribution of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography. The jury returned its verdicts after considering more than two days of testimony and evidence. Jury deliberations lasted less than two hours

The guilty verdicts were announced by U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice; and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.

U.S. Attorney Neronha commented, “The prosecution of this case was intended to accomplish one thing: protect children. There is no more important objective of law enforcement. And make no mistake, the kind of conduct that Mr. Chiaradio was found guilty of today—the distribution and possession of child pornography—exploits and victimizes our children. I am grateful for the jury’s verdict, and for the excellent work of the government’s trial team and investigators.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly and Trial Attorney Andrew McCormack from the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Criminal Division presented evidence to the jury that in February 2006, Chiaradio distributed three child pornographic images to an undercover FBI agent via Limewire, a peer-to-peer file sharing program. FBI agents continued their investigation of Chiaradio’s activities, during which they obtained a search warrant that was executed at Chiaradio’s home in late August 2006. During the search, agents seized a laptop and a desktop computer. The computers and various hard drives were examined by a computer forensics expert from the FBI, which resulted in the discovery of over 6,000 images and videos of child pornography.

The matter was investigated by agents assigned to the Providence Resident Agency of the FBI, with the assistance of FBI agents assigned to the Innocent Images Task Force in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi, who presided over the trial, scheduled a sentencing hearing to be held on March 3, 2010.

Distribution of child pornography is punishable by a sentence of five to 30 years’ imprisonment; supervised release for five years to life; and a maximum fine of $250,000. Possession of child pornography is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment; supervised release for five years to life; and a maximum fine of $250,000.