Foster Man Sentenced for Downloading and Storing Child Sexual Abuse Material

PROVIDENCE – A Foster man who previously pleaded guilty to receipt of child sexual abuse material was sentenced today in federal court, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

John Q. Adams, 36, was sentenced by U.S District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy to 15 years in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. Adams will also be required to register as a sex offender in accordance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

According to information presented to the court, on January 13, 2021, Adams downloaded and stored an explicit video file depicting child sexual abuse material involving two adult males and a prepubescent female. Further investigation determined that Adams had downloaded and stored approximately 112 images and 49 videos of child sexual abuse material.

At the time of the offense, Adams had previously been convicted and incarcerated for sharing sexually explicit photographs online with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl whom he also attempted to meet near her middle school to engage in sex.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Denise M. Barton.

The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. 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

To report suspected online child sexual exploitation and/or abuse, call the Know2Protect Tipline at 1-833-591-KNOW (5669) or visit the NCMEC CyberTipline® at https://report.cybertip.org/

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