Danvers Man Indicted On Child Pornography Charges

BOSTON - A Danvers man was indicted yesterday in federal court on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography.

Joseph Corbett, 50, was indicted on one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Corbett was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in June 2019, and was released by the Court on conditions.  

According to the charging documents, on June 14, 2019, law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Corbett’s home where they recovered an iPhone belonging to Corbett.  An onsite forensic review of the phone revealed images of child pornography, including the sexual abuse of girls between the ages of 6 and 8 years old. 

The distribution charge provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison. The possession charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison. Each charge provides for a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Jason Molina, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Danvers Police Chief Patrick M. Ambrose made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Sullivan Jacobus of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.

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 locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identity and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.