Whitman Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Offenses

 At time of arrest, defendant was on pre-trial release from Plymouth County Superior Court for various child exploitation offenses

BOSTON – A Whitman man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for child pornography offenses.

Matthew Kulikowski, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 151 months in prison and five years of supervised release. In January 2020, Kulikowski pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Kulikowski was arrested and charged in September 2018, and has been in custody since that time.

Law enforcement learned that an internet user at Kulikowski’s Whitman home distributed child pornography using the Kik messenger application. A search of the home resulted in the seizure of a tablet located in Kulikowski’s bedroom that contained at least 300 images and videos depicting child pornography, including the sexual assault of girls who appeared to be between four-and-eight-years-old.

At the time of his arrest, Kulikowski was on pretrial release from Plymouth County Superior Court, where he had a case pending for multiple child exploitation offenses, including possession of child pornography, disseminating obscene material to a minor, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and enticement of a child under 16.  He has since been convicted of those offenses.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistance was provided by the Massachusetts State Police, Whitman Police Department and the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Lelling’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.