A master sergeant with the Massachusetts National Guard has been charged with possession and distribution of child sex abuse images, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday.
Nicholas Wells, 43, was arrested Thursday, and following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, agreed to voluntary detention pending trial, prosecutors said. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney.
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Wells is a master sergeant with the 102 Security Forces of the Massachusetts National Guard stationed in Sandwich.
According to the charging documents, he engaged in chats on a messaging application in which he allegedly discussed his interest in minors and distributed videos depicting child sex abuse.
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Prosecutors allege that, following search warrants for Wells’ messaging application account and home, over 300 images and 100 videos depicting child sex abuse were located on his phone, along with evidence that he distributed over 70 videos depicting child sex abuse.
The charge of possessing child sex abuse images provides for a sentence up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The charge of distributing child sex abuse images provides for a sentence of at leave five years and 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 U.S. Attorney's Office said the 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.
