Former Chariho High School Coach Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison On Child Pornography Charges

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Glen Matteson, 52, of Richmond, R.I., a former Chariho High School assistant soccer coach, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence today to 60 months in federal prison on child pornography charges, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha; Richmond Police Chief Elwood M. Johnson, Jr.; Colonel Steven G. O’DonnellSuperintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., also ordered Matteson to serve 10 years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term and to register as a sex offender. Matteson pleaded guilty on November 20, 2012, to one count each of receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography.

According to information presented to the court, on February 19, 2012, Richmond Police received a complaint from a local resident that he had found sexually graphic text messages from Matteson on the cell phone of his 15-year-old son, a soccer player on Matteson’s soccer team.  With the father’s consent, Richmond Police engaged in a series of text message exchanges with Matteson over four days, assuming the identity of the boy. In the context of the sexually explicit texts, Matteson invited the boy to accompany him to a soccer event and offered to transport him.  On February 22, 2012, the morning of the planned meeting, Matteson was arrested by Richmond Police.

According to information presented to the court, after Matteson made certain admissions to Richmond Police to viewing, storing and distributing child pornography images and videos, Richmond Police and law enforcement officers and agents from the Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force executed a court authorized search of Matteson’s cell phone, two home computers, a digital storage device, and his work computer at the ACI. In addition to discovering numerous text messages and emails containing sexually explicit messages, a forensic examination of the equipment by the ICAC Task Force resulted in the discovery of 898 images and 73 videos depicting child pornography.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.

Matteson was ordered by the court to self-surrender to begin serving his prison sentence on March 12, 2013.

Matteson is awaiting trial in state court on a charge of indecent solicitation of a child.

The ICAC Task Force is a Department of Justice grant-funded program administered by the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit. It is comprised of detectives from the Rhode Island State Police and Providence, West Warwick, and Coventry, R.I., Police Departments, and an agent from Homeland Security Investigations. The objective of the RI ICAC is to form strong working relationships between local, state and federal law enforcement to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute online child exploitation and child pornography crimes.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc  For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

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