North Providence Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

PROVIDENCE, RI - A North Providence man is scheduled to be sentenced in December after admitting to a federal judge that he possessed and distributed child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Mark Peterson, 46, pleaded guilty on September 6, 2024 to an indictment charging him with distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, 2024. The defendant's conviction carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, but his final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

According to information presented to the court, in February 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children forwarded information to the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that an online application was being used to distribute child pornography. A State Police Detective determined that the online account contained 114 files depicting child sexual abuse, and that an IP address at Peterson's residence was used to access the account.

On April 5, 2022, members of the ICAC Task Force executed a court-authorized search of Peterson's residence and seized three cellphones. A fourth cellphone stored inside Peterson's vehicle was also turned over to investigators. A forensic audit of the devices revealed more than 1,300 files comprising videos and images of child sexual abuse, including the depictions of the abuse of pre-pubescent children, infants, sadomasochism, and bestiality. Additionally, located on one cell phone were numerous sexualized screen recordings of prepubescent minor children from social media applications. Investigators also located screen recordings in which Peterson falsely portrayed himself as 15 years old.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John P. McAdams and Julianne Klein.

The matter was investigated by the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations and the Massachusetts State Police.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc

The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Warwick Police Department, Cranston Police Department, East Providence Police Department, Pawtucket Police Department, Portsmouth Police Department, Bristol Police Department, Middletown Police Department, and Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations.

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