SHIRLEY MAN CONVICTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

BOSTON, MA - A Shirley man appeared in federal court Wednesday, March 28, 2007, and pleaded guilty to charges of distributing and possessing child pornography via the Internet.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England, announced that JOHN R. FARRAR, 48, of 120 Ayer Road, Shirley, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty Wednesday before Chief U.S. District Judge Mark. L. Wolf to a six-count indictment charging him with five counts of transporting and distributing child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.

At the plea hearing, a federal prosecutor informed the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the evidence would have proven that FARRAR invited persons in child pornography chat rooms to trade child pornography with him. He thereafter sent child pornography images, including videos, to an undercover FBI agent who responded to FARRAR’s invitation to trade. Special Agents of the FBI executed a search warrant in 2005 at FARRAR’s residence and seized his computer system.

Judge Wolf scheduled sentencing for June 25, 2007. FARRAR faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a five year minimum mandatory sentence, to be followed by lifetime term of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, and forfeiture of his computer system.

This case is being 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, with the assistance of the Worcester and Middlesex District Attorneys’ Offices, and the Shirley and Lunenberg Police Departments. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Feeley in Sullivan’s Major Crimes Unit.