Worcester Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Charges

BOSTON – A Worcester man pleaded guilty and was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Worcester on child pornography charges.  

Jared Bissell, 24, pleaded guilty to receipt and possession of child pornography.  U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman sentenced Bissell to five years in prison and five years of supervised release.     

On July 28, 2014, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at Bissell’s residence in Worcester.  Bissell immediately told law enforcement officers that he knew why they were present and that they would find what they were looking for on a computer in his bedroom.  An initial forensic review of the computer revealed hundreds of videos and images containing child pornography, some of which involved children as young as three years old.  Bissell also gave authorities a recorded confession during which he admitted to seeking out and downloading child pornography from the internet.  

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Worcester Police Chief Steven M. Sargent, made the announcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Grady of Ortiz’s Worcester Branch Office. 

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.