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Press Release

Joshua Pincoske Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Sexual Abuse Materials and Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Vermont

Burlington, Vermont – The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Joshua Pincoske, 47, of Concord, New Hampshire pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Concord, New Hampshire to one count of production of child sexual abuse materials (formerly called child pornography) and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante ordered that Pincoske remain detained in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing. Pincoske’s sentencing hearing is set to occur in Concord, New Hampshire on August 28, 2023.  

According to court records, on February 2, 2022, law enforcement executed search warrants authorizing the searches of Pincoske’s residence, his vehicle, and his person. During the execution of those search warrants, law enforcement seized a number of electronic devices, including his cellular phones. Examinations of the contents of Pincoske’s cellular phones revealed numerous visual depictions of minor females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In the plea agreement between Pincoske and the United States, Pincoske admitted to engaging in sexual activity with a fifteen-year-old female in the master bedroom of his home in Concord on October 4, 2019. During the sexual activity, Pincoske, using his cellular phone, created videos and images of the juvenile engaged in sexual activity. Pincoske also admitted to engaging in sexual activity with a second juvenile female on November 12, 2021 while in Massachusetts, and creating both images and videos of this juvenile female engaged in sexually explicit conduct. 

At sentencing, if the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Pincoske will face a sentence of not less than 20 years and not more than 30 years of imprisonment, and a 10-year term of supervised release. Pincoske is required to pay restitution to the victims of his federal convictions and has agreed to pay restitution to four additional juvenile victims related to pending prosecutions in Merrimack and Strafford Counties.  

The resolution of Pincoske’s federal charges occurs in conjunction with coordinated resolutions concerning matters pending before New Hampshire state courts in Merrimack and Strafford Counties. Those resolutions are the subject of separate agreements with the prosecutors in those jurisdictions.

United States Attorney Nikolas P. Kerest commended the investigatory efforts of the Concord Police Department and the Farmington Police Department. He also thanked the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Merrimack County Child Advocacy Center, the Yarmouth, Massachusetts Police Department, the Bangor, Maine Police Department, the El Dorado, Kansas Police Department, and the United States Secret Service for their vital assistance.

The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont has been appointed to handle this prosecution under the authority described in 28 U.S.C. § 515. The prosecutor assigned to the matter is Jonathan A. Ophardt, an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Vermont. Pincoske is represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Behzad Mirhashem.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and Child Exploitation Obscenity Section, Criminal Division (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

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Media Inquiries/Public Affairs Officer:

(802) 951-6725

Updated May 15, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood