Manchester Man Sentenced to 12 Months in Federal Prison for Failure to Register as a Sex Offender

CONCORD – A Manchester man was sentenced today in federal court for his failure to register as a sex offender, Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack announces.

Christopher Hodgeman, 33, of Manchester, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro to 12 months in federal prison and 15 years of supervised release. In November 2024, Hodgeman pleaded guilty one count of failure to register his online identifiers.

On April 13, 2021, Hodgeman pled guilty to one count of possession of child sexual abuse material. As a result of this prior conviction, Hodgeman is required to register as a sex offender and to report any internet or online identifiers, including screen names or user profiles on social media accounts.

In February 2023, Manchester police received a tip that an individual, later identified as Hodgeman, appeared to be exchanging sexually oriented chats online via Xbox with a 15-year-old child. Authorities determined that Hodgman had engaged in these chats using an unregistered online account. Through further investigation, authorities identified at least one additional online account that Hodgeman failed to report on his sex offender registration paperwork.

“Prosecuting violations of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act is critical in our effort to keep the most vulnerable members of our community safe,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack. “Today’s sentence reinforces this Office’s dedication to protecting the public and ensuring accountability for those who attempt to circumvent their sex offender registration requirements.”

The United States Marshals Service and the Manchester Police Department investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew T. Hunter and Kasey Weiland prosecuted the case.  

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 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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