As reported by Mike McKinney in the March 3, 2011 edition of the Providence Journal, a Westerly man has been sentenced on child pornography charges. The man was found guilty, after a trial, of possession and distribution of child pornography. The man was charged in the Rhode Island Federal Court and received an eight (8) year prison sentence, lifetime supervision upon his release from prison and the man was ordered to pay restitution to the victims depicted in the child pornography.
Under state law, Rhode Island General Law 11-9-1.3, it is a violation of this section for any person to: (1) Knowingly produce any child pornography; (2) Knowingly mail, transport, deliver or transfer by any means, including by computer, any child pornography; (3) Knowingly reproduce any child pornography by any means, including the computer; or (4) Knowingly possess any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, computer disk, computer file or any other material that contains an image of child pornography.
The penalties for distribution of child pornography include a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned for not more than fifteen (15) years, or both. The penalties for possession of child pornography are less severe and include a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both.