The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Walter Read, 76, of East Dorset, Vermont, was indicted on Feb. 14, 2019 by a Burlington grand jury with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of access with intent to view child pornography. On Feb. 19, 2019, Read was arrested and arraigned in U.S. District Court in Burlington before The Honorable John M. Conroy. At arraignment, Read pleaded not guilty to both charges. Read is next scheduled to appear in federal court on February 22 for a hearing on the government’s motion for his pretrial detention.
According to Court records, Read sustained a previous conviction in federal court for possession of child pornography. For that conviction, The Honorable William K. Sessions III sentenced him in 2012 to 37 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Read is accused of committing the instant child pornography offense - involving alleged downloading of images of child exploitation - while serving his term of federal supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Christina E. Nolan is handling the prosecution of Read. The lead federal investigator is a Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent. Assistant Federal Public Defender Steven Barth represents Read.
U.S. Attorney Nolan emphasized that the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. If convicted, Read faces a ten-year mandatory minimum sentence for each count. The advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines will also inform the Court at sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Nolan commended the efforts of the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Manchester, Vermont Police Department.
U.S. Attorney Nolan noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice=s Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorney=s Offices, 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.justice.gov/psc.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
