BOSTON, MA - A Charlton man, and owner of a children’s entertainment business, was convicted yesterday in U.S. District Court of possessing child pornography.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - New England Field Division, announced that TOBIAS R. PARENT, age 37, of 298 North Sturbridge Street, Charlton, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, to possessing videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

At the plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that in March 2005, a federal search warrant was executed at a residence in Green Bay, Wisconsin. A forensic examination of a computer seized pursuant to that search warrant revealed that on January 10, 2005, images of child pornography were traded with computers at a particular IP address in Massachusetts.

The investigation revealed that the subscriber associated with the IP address on that date the child pornography was traded, was Tobias Parent, 298 N. Sturbridge Road, Charlton.
Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles records confirmed that Tobias R. Parent resides at 298 N. Sturbridge Road, Charlton, Massachusetts.

In June 2006, federal agents interviewed PARENT at his residence. PARENT acknowledged that child pornography was present on his computer in the past, and that in the process of down-loading e-books, images of child pornography would sometimes appear. PARENT denied downloading child pornography from the internet. PARENT also stated that he owned “Kids Time To Go, Inc.” and worked full-time in that business providing entertainment to children.

PARENT provided written consent to search his VPR Matrix computer and his MAC Powerbook G4 laptop. He indicated that he was the sole user of the laptop computer.

A forensic examination conducted on the MAC Powerbook G4 laptop revealed the presence of videos depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 10, 2008. PARENT faces up to 10 years imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Hudson Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hennessy of Sullivan’s Worcester Branch Office Unit.