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Press Release

Former Cape Cod Pediatrician Indicted On Child Pornography Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
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BOSTON – A former pediatrician was indicted today with charges relating to child pornography.

Daniel J. O’Hern, 64, of Mashpee, was charged with distribution and possession of child pornography. In June 2014, O’Hern was charged by criminal complaint and is currently being held in federal custody.

According to the affidavit, in May 2014, law enforcement discovered that O’Hern was utilizing a public file sharing program to post what appeared to be child pornography. Federal agents subsequently accessed the files and determined that they contained pictures and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In June 2014, federal agents executed a search warrant at O’Hern’s Mashpee residence and seized multiple computers, external hard drives, hundreds of DVDs, and other media storage devices. O’Hern, a semi-retired pediatrician at the time, was arrested following the execution of the search warrant.

The charge of distribution of child pornography provides a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and a lifetime of supervised release. The possession charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Shelly Binkowski, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Mashpee Police Chief Rodney Collins; and Barnstable Police Chief Paul MacDonald, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Kenneth G. Shine of Ortiz’s Major Crime Unit.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.


Updated December 15, 2014