Joseph Seymour Sentenced for possessing more than 7,000 digital images…
FORMER WEST WARWICK RESIDENT SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSING 7,000 IMAGES AND VIDEOS OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
PROVIDENCE – A Portsmouth man who previously lived in West Warwick was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for possessing more than 7,000 digital images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
Joseph Seymour, 40, pleaded guilty in October 2017 to possession of child pornography. At sentencing today, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., also ordered Seymour to serve 5 years supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration, pay restitution totaling $15,000 to 15 identified victims who made restitution claims, and a $5,000 special assessment imposed as required by statute in child sexual exploitation cases where the Court makes a finding that the defendant is not indigent.
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of imprisonment in this matter is 78-98 months. The government recommended the court impose a sentence of 30 months in prison.
Seymour’s sentence is announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; and Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
At the time of his guilty plea, Seymour admitted to the Court that in July 2016, he was in possession of more than 7,000 digital images or videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent minors under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
According to court documents and information presented to the Court, in July 2016, a Tempe, Arizona computer repair service notified the Tempe Police Department that they discovered images on a digital hard drive that appeared to be child pornography. The hard drive, owned by Seymour, had been sent to the repair service via a Rhode Island-based manufacturer of electronic products.
After determining that some of the contents they reviewed depicted child pornography, the Tempe Police Department contacted that Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. The hard drive was transferred to the ICAC Task Force and then to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) for further examination. A forensic examination of the hard drive revealed over 7,000 images and videos of child pornography stored in more than 160 subfolders.
USPIS agents and members of the ICAC Task Force arrested Seymour on December 21, 2016, while executing a court-authorized search of Seymour’s then West Warwick residence. Numerous computers and digital storage devices were seized by law enforcement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald R. Gendron.