Peabody Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography

BOSTON – A Peabody man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to possessing child pornography, including images and videos of infants and toddlers being sexually abused. 

Daniel Baldwin, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin scheduled sentencing for Jan. 25, 2018. 

Following an investigation into the online trade of child pornography through peer to peer networks, federal agents executed a search warrant at Baldwin’s home in Peabody on April 4, 2017, where they seized digital devices containing approximately 1500 videos containing child pornography. Baldwin is a Level 2 sex offender based on a 2013 Massachusetts state conviction for possession of child pornography.    

The charge provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, a minimum of five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Weinreb’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and a member of the Major Crimes Unit, is prosecuting the case.

 The 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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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/.