MASHPEE MAN SENTENCED FOR RECEIPT OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Boston, MA... A Mashpee man was sentenced late yesterday in federal court for possession of child pornography.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations in New England, announced that DAVID BERGLUND, 42, of 18 Holly Farm Drive, Mashpee, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to 3 years and 5 months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Special conditions set by the Court for the term of supervised release include: BERGLUND must register as a sex offender in any state where he resides, works or is a student; he must receive sex offender treatment; he is prohibited from working in any job that entails supervision of children; he can have no unsupervised contact with children; and he is prohibited from using a computer except as necessary for work.

On November 27, 2006, BERGLUND pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with possession of visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. BERGLUND has been in federal custody since his arrest on September 1, 2006.

According to documents previously filed with the Court and statements made by the prosecutor at the earlier plea hearing, FBI agents discovered between 150 and 300 child pornography images on BERGLUND’s computer after he consented to their searching it. The images were primarily of naked prepubescent boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The agents were led to BERGLUND's computer as a result of an investigation by the Innocent Images International Task Force (ITF) located in Calverton, Maryland. In October 2004, the ITF began an investigation of several child pornography web sites which were utilizing certain payment services, including "E-Gold". By June 2005, due to the ongoing international investigation, E-Gold became the only available means of purchasing membership into web sites identified as supplying child pornography. Based on information that was seized from the EGold server, the FBI was able to obtain transaction history records. Among the records were those indicating that BERGLUND had purchased a $125 membership in August 2005. Agents then went and spoke to BERGLUND at his home at which time he consented to their search of his home computer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Gershengorn in Sullivan’s Major Crimes Unit.