PROVIDENCE – A Cumberland man whose email and IP address were used to access and view child pornography pleaded guilty today in federal court to a charge of possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
Patrick K. Newton, 27, was found on March 30, 2022, by Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents and members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to be in possession of child pornography stored on electronic media storage devices belonging to him.
In January 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children provided HSI with information they obtained from a Canadian-based online messaging and chat service that, on multiple dates, an IP address and email, later determined by law enforcement to belong to Newton, was used on multiple dates to access and view child pornography.
At the time of the court-authorized search of Newton’s residence in March 2022, a preliminary forensic audit of a thumb drive belonging to Newtown was found to contain videos depicting child pornography.
Newton is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2023. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.
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