Connecticut Man Charged with Receiving Child Pornography
Defendant Employed as a Photographer of Summer Camp Children and Youth Sports Teams
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 02, 2013 |
BOSTON—A Connecticut man was in U.S. District Court in Springfield today after being charged with receiving child pornography.
Emil Kaufman, 21, of Hamden, Connecticut, was charged and arrested on June 26 in a criminal complaint with receipt of child pornography. Kaufman worked as a photographer of youth sports teams and as a photographer and website designer for a summer camp for children with learning disabilities in New York. Kaufman was released from custody today after a detention hearing.
According to court documents, on or about October 22, 2012, federal agents downloaded child pornography video files on the Giga Tribe peer-to-peer file sharing network from a user identified as “koolkidlime1991.” On June 17, 2013, federal agents again downloaded child pornography video files on the Giga Tribe network from koolkidlime1991. The agents determined that during each download, koolkidlime1991 was using an Internet connection subscribed to by Kaufman’s father at a residence in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. On June 26, 2013, agents executed a search warrant at the Stockbridge residence and seized, among other items, a MacBook Pro that contained numerous child pornography files. The agents also located Kaufman in the residence. Kaufman admitted to the agents that he had a “bad habit” of trading child pornography, he has approximately 300 to 400 files of child pornography, and he traded child pornography as recently as the previous night.
The statutory penalty for receipt of child pornography provides for a minimum mandatory of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison, followed by up to a lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Bruce M. Focuart, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, made the announcement today. HSI received assistance from the Massachusetts State Police, the Stockbridge Police Department, and the FBI in New Haven, Connecticut. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Breslow of Ortiz’s Springfield Branch.
Members of the public who have questions, concerns, or information regarding this case should call 617-748-3274, and messages will be promptly returned.
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 Criminal Division’s CEOS, 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.justice.gov/psc.
The details contained in the complaint affidavit are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.