Sex Offender Who Possessed Child Pornography Sentenced to Federal Prison

PROVIDENCE – A Woonsocket man who admitted to collecting thousands of images and nearly 200 videos of child pornography, at a time that he was already a registered sex offender, has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Matthew S. Hathaway, 26, of Woonsocket, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on January 4, 2024, to a charge of possession of child pornography involving prepubescent minors. He was sentenced on Tuesday by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to 42 months of incarceration to be followed by eight years of federal supervised release.

According to documents filed with the court, a member of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an IP address, later determined to originate from a Woonsocket residence where Hathaway resided, was being used to download and transfer child pornography.

On March 16, 2023, members of the ICAC Task Force executed a court-authorized search warrant at Hathaway’s residence and seized a desktop computer and cell phone belonging to Hathaway. A forensic audit of the electronic devices by Homeland Security Investigations determined that the devices contained 7,984 images and 192 videos of child sexual abuse material.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julie M. White and Dulce Donovan.

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