Registered Child Sex Offender Pleads Guilty To Receipt Of Child Pornography

WILMINGTON, Del. – Eric R. Aldrich, age 24, of Milford, Delaware, pled guilty today to Receipt of Child Pornography, in violation of federal law.  Charles M. Oberly, III, United States Attorney for the District of Delaware, announced the guilty plea following a hearing in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

Aldrich was previously convicted in Delaware of Dealing in Child Pornography in October 2011.  He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, suspended after service of 2 years.  Prior to this incident, he was last released from custody and placed on probation in May 2014. 

As a result of his prior convictions, Aldrich faces enhanced sentencing penalties under federal law, including a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years, and a maximum sentence of forty years, in prison.  Aldrich also faces a term of supervised release of five years to life following his prison sentence, and he will be required to continue to register as a sex offender in any U.S. jurisdiction in which he lives, works, or attends school.  Aldrich will be sentenced on August 7, 2015 by Chief United States District Judge Leonard P. Stark.

According to statements made and documents filed in court, Aldrich came to the attention of the Delaware Child Predator Task Force (the “Task Force”) in June 2014, about one month after his release from custody.  That investigation began after the Task Force received cybertips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).  The cybertips reported that a YouTube user, subsequently identified as Aldrich, had uploaded files containing child pornography to YouTube.  

On June 18, 2014, Task Force officers executed a state search warrant at Aldrich’s Milford residence, where they found computer equipment containing over 5,000 still images and 200 videos depicting child pornography.  A significant portion of the child pornography featured mostly prepubescent and adolescent girls being sexually abused by adult males, and webcam images of young teen girls engaged in sexual conduct.  During an interview with law enforcement agents, Aldrich admitted that, since his release from prison, he had been accessing the Internet via a laptop and downloading files containing child pornography. 

This case was investigated by the Delaware Child Predator Task Force and the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ed McAndrew.