Framingham Man Charged with Child Pornography Offenses

BOSTON – A Framingham man was arrested today and charged with receipt and possession of child pornography.

Richard Allain, 54, of Framingham, was charged today in U.S. District Court in Boston with one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  Allain was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler. 

According to court documents, in June 2015, the Framingham Police Department received a report that Allain showed a minor videos of child pornography on two separate occasions when the minor and his parent were visiting Allain’s home.  The minor stated during an interview with police that, on both occasions, Allain invited him to go down into the basement to play computer games, but instead, Allain showed the minor images and videos containing child pornography for two hours.  On both occasions, Allain masturbated and asked the minor to perform oral sex, which he refused.  Allain threated the minor, saying “Don’t tell anybody about this or I’ll [expletive] kill you.” 

During the execution of a state search warrant at Allain’s residence, several items of computer media were seized, including seven USB thumb drives that Allain kept in a plastic bag, and which contained images and videos of child pornography.  Following his arrest today, Allain admitted to law enforcement officers that he possessed hundreds of images of child pornography, and that he showed videos of child pornography to the minor.

The charge of receipt of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum term of five years and no greater than twenty years in prison.  The charge of possession of child pornography provides for no greater than twenty years in prison.  Both statutes provide for a mandatory minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case was investigated by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, the Boston Police Department Child Abuse Unit, the Massachusetts State Police Special Investigations Unit, the Framingham Police Department, and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office Child Abuse Unit.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eve A. Piemonte of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The details contained in the complaint are allegations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.