Indictment Charges Milford Man with Receiving Child Sex Abuse Images

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Jason J. Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment yesterday charging ROBERT C. HARRINGTON, 53, of Milford, with receipt of child pornography.

As alleged in court documents, in January 2019, HSI received information from Australian and Canadian law enforcement authorities that two usernames associated with an Internet Protocol (IP) address at Harrington’s Milford residence were sending and receiving images depicting the sexual abuse of girls through a web-based application.  On May 15, 2019, investigators searched Harrington’s residence and seized his tablet computer.  The tablet contained images and videos depicting child sex abuse.

Harrington has been detained since his arrest on May 15, 2019.

The indictment charges Harrington with one count of receipt of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation is being conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of the Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET), South Australia Police, Australian Federal Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.