Stamford Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Federal Child Pornography Charge

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, announced that BRIEN PENNELL, 31, of Stamford, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to one count of receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in February 2008, Pennell was convicted in state court of sexual assault and possession of child pornography offenses.  Pennell served 30 months in prison and was sentenced to 15 years of probation for those offenses.

On February 2, 2018, after an investigation revealed that an IP address registered to Pennell was being used to share images and videos of child pornography via the Kik application, Connecticut probation officers conducted a compliance search of Pennell’s residence and vehicle and seized various electronic media, including a smart phone and a tablet, both of which were located in a hidden compartment under the steering wheel of Pennell’s vehicle.

Subsequent analysis of the seized electronic devices, Pennell’s Kik account and a Dropbox account he maintained, revealed 148 videos and 40 images of child pornography, some of which depict children younger than 12 engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

Pennell is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on September 12, 2019, at which time Pennell faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years.  The minimum and maximum penalties in this case are enhanced based on Pennell’s criminal history.

Pennell has been detained since his federal arrest on March 20, 2018.

This matter is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of Connecticut’s Office of Adult Probation and the Stamford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.

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.