Rhode Island Man Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography

WASHINGTON—David Chiaradio, of Westerly, R.I., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Providence, R.I., to 97 months in prison and a lifetime of supervised release for distribution and possession of child pornography, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha of the District of Rhode Island.

In November 2010, Chiaradio, 28, was found guilty of one count of distribution of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography after a two-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mary M. Lisi. Evidence presented at trial established that in February 2006, Chiaradio, using Limewire, a peer-to-peer file sharing program, distributed three images of child pornography to an undercover FBI agent. FBI agents continued their investigation of Chiaradio and obtained a search warrant that was executed at Chiaradio’s home in late August 2006. During the search, agents seized a laptop and a desktop computer. The computers and various hard drives were examined by a computer forensics expert from the FBI and more than 2,000 images and videos of child pornography were discovered.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly of the District of Rhode Island and Trial Attorney Andrew McCormack of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Providence Field Office with the assistance of FBI agents from the Innocent Images Task Force in Tulsa, Okla.