Framingham Man Sentenced for Child Pornography Offenses

BOSTON – A Framingham man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for possession and receipt of child pornography.

Richard Allain, 56, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs to 87 months in prison and five years of supervised release.  In March 2017, Allain pleaded guilty to two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.

In June 2015, law enforcement received a report that on two occasions Allain showed a 14-year-old boy videos of prepubescent children engaged in sex acts with adults while the minor and his parents were visiting Allain’s home. During an interview with police, the minor stated that Allain invited the boy to go to the basement to play computer games, but instead Allain showed the boy videos of child pornography. Allain masturbated in front of the boy, asked the boy to masturbate, and performed oral sex on the boy, all of which Allain denies doing. Allain threatened the minor, saying: “Don’t tell anybody about this or I’ll [expletive] kill you.”

During a search of Allain’s residence three computers and seven USB thumb drives, on which Allain stored thousands of images of child pornography, were seized. When questioned by law enforcement officers, Allain admitted to possessing the images and to showing videos of child pornography to the minor on two occasions.

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office, 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. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

This case was 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 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.