WASHINGTON - Edward Galpin was detained yesterday pending trial on charges of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Michael R. Sherwin and Special Agent in Charge James A. Dawson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division. This case was investigated by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office and the Metropolitan Police Department's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New Haven Field Office.
Galpin, age 38, of Stratford, Connecticut, was arrested after he was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the District of Columbia last week. The complaint alleges that, in October of 2019, Galpin joined an online messaging group devoted to the exchange of child pornography and shared numerous sexually explicit videos of young children with the group. The complaint alleges that Galpin also had private conversations with an undercover officer working in the District of Columbia, sending the undercover officer a video of a female (under age 18) undressing. Galpin told the undercover that he had used a spy camera to make this recording.
The complaint further alleges that, in June, Galpin reached out to a different undercover officer, who was in a Connecticut-based teen chatroom. The undercover officer told Galpin s/he was a 14-year old female. Galpin set up a meeting with this purported 14-year old on June 25, 2020. When asked whether he had done this before, Galpin responded, “twice." Galpin arrived at the arranged meeting place, went through a drive-through in the area, and then drove to a nearby store.
Galpin was arrested later that same day and made an initial appearance on the complaint in the District of Connecticut. At a hearing yesterday, United States Magistrate Judge Sarah A.L. Merriam detained Galpin pending trial. He has a preliminary hearing in the District of Connecticut set for July 9, 2020.
A criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct for purposes of establishing probable cause, not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney April Russo with paralegal contractor Kenny Nguyen and with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
