The former chief of staff for the mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty to transporting and possessing images showing child sex abuse, federal prosecutors said Monday.
Jhovanny Martes-Rosario, 50, was indicted in federal court last year on one count of possession of child pornography and one count of transportation of child pornography. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
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After his guilty plea Friday, Martes-Rosario is due to be sentenced March 10, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts said Monday.
Martes-Rosario was arrested by state authorities on related charges in February 2023, at which time he pleaded not guilty in Lawrence District Court. He was ]released on bail on the condition that he have no contact with any child under 18, except his 11-year-old son, not use a computer and surrender his passport.
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This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
The state police Cyber Crime Unit began the investigation that led to his arrest in December 2022 after receiving information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about images of child sex images uploaded from an IP address associated with Martes-Rosario's home on Mount Auburn Street. They said further investigation tied the IP address to Martes-Rosario and he was arrested after state police executed a court-authorized search warrant on electronic devices in his home, locating dozens of child sex images on his iPad.
Investigators were tipped off to pictures of naked girls under 6 years old uploaded to two of Martes-Rosario's accounts, including a Yahoo email, a previous police report revealed. When police arrived at his home on Feb. 6, he allegedly admitted looking for and downloading the images for years.
Martes-Rosario was the chief of staff for Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena. At an earlier court appearance, he said he was fired from his city position.
The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of transportation of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
