BOSTON - A Peabody man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Boston to receipt and possession of child pornography.
Patrick Lynch, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for Sept. 14, 2016.
Beginning in May 2013, Lynch began receiving emails containing images and videos of children as young as one year old being sexually exploited. On Dec. 12, 2014, during the execution of a search warrant at his residence, Lynch admitted to law enforcement officers that he received emails containing pictures of elementary school-aged children naked, posing, and engaging in sexual acts. He admitted to viewing images of child pornography on a website and to viewing child pornography on his laptop while at a Boy Scout camp in New Mexico. Lynch also communicated online with children and exchanged sexually explicit images. Prior to law enforcement executing the search warrant, Lynch deleted the application and cleared his phone’s Internet history.
A further investigation revealed that Lynch had been employed at the Greater Beverly YMCA, and had recently begun employment with Beanstalk Adventure Ropes Course in Reading, Mass.
The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum term of five years and no greater than 20 years in prison. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for no greater than 20 years in prison. Both statutes provide for a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. Assistance was also provided by the Massachusetts State Police and the Peabody Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.
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/.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
