Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
An Everett man, Robert Sokolowski, 52, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possessing, distributing, and receiving child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The sentencing took place in Boston federal court before U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor. Following his release from federal prison, Sokolowski committed these offenses within a matter of months.
Sokolowski pleaded guilty in September 2025 to one count each of possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, and receipt of child pornography. According to authorities, the investigation began when Sokolowski lost his cell phone on an MBTA Green Line trolley in September 2024. An employee who found the phone discovered images of CSAM while attempting to identify its owner. The device contained hundreds of images and videos depicting children as young as toddlers.
This marks Sokolowski’s third federal conviction related to CSAM offenses. In 2015, he was convicted twice in U.S. District Court for possession of CSAM—first receiving a sentence of 46 months and then a second sentence of 150 months for another conviction that same year. He committed the latest offenses just seven months after being released from prison for the previous conviction.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, announced the sentencing. The MBTA Transit Police provided special assistance during the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren Maynard and Eric L. Hawkins from the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
"This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice," according to officials involved with the prosecution. "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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims." More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
