Massachusetts ICAC Investigation Leads to Charges Against Six in Child Pornography Roundup
April 5, 2006, Contact Maredith Baumann, (617) 727-2543
BOSTON – Six people were charged for allegedly using the Internet to possess or disseminate child pornography. One person was arrested this morning, and criminal complaints have issued today against another five with individuals in connection with a lengthy investigation by the state-wide Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
For several months, State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office along with Troopers assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force have been working cooperatively to build these cases.
The cases in which criminal complaints issued today involve the online possession and dissemination of child pornography. In four cases, peer-to-peer networks allegedly were used to view and disseminate images of children engaged in sexual activity. Peer-to-peer networks allow individual users to share movie and image files. In the other two cases, the defendants allegedly disseminated child pornography though online chat rooms.
In the four cases charged today involving peer-to-peer networks, a Massachusetts State Trooper attached to the ICAC Task Force used the peer-to-peer network to find movies or pictures that the investigating Trooper knew depicted an identified child engaged in sexual activity. The State Trooper then focused on the computers that he could identify as located in Massachusetts. In all four cases, State Police assigned to Attorney General Reilly’s office executed search warrants in the homes where the computers were located.
In the cases involving peer-to-peer networks, criminal complaints have issued against the following individuals:
Ross Ciulla, 22, of Hyde Park. Ciulla was arrested by State Police this morning and arraigned in West Roxbury District Court this afternoon on two counts each of child pornography with intent to disseminate, possession of obscene matter with intent to disseminate and possession of child pornography.
Robert Rich, 47, of Quincy. Complaints issued today out of Quincy District Court charging Rich with two counts each of child pornography with intent to disseminate, possession of obscene matter with intent to disseminate and possession of child pornography.
Joseph Jaena, 20, of Framingham. Complaints issued Framingham District Court charging Jaena with two counts each of possession of child pornography with intent to disseminate, possession of obscene matter with intent to disseminate and possession of child pornography.
Debashish Sircar, 19, of Bronx, New York. Complaints issued today from Cambridge District Court charging Sircar with two counts of possession of child pornography.
In another aspect of the online investigation, criminal complaints issued today against two men who allegedly posted child pornography in Internet chat rooms.
Criminal complaints issued in these Internet chat room cases today against:
Raymond Lefebvre, 39, of Woburn. Complaints issued out of Woburn District Court charging Lefebvre with one count each of possession of child pornography with intent to disseminate, possession of obscene matter with intent to disseminate and two counts of possession of child pornography.
Steven Bianchi, 49, of Waltham. Complaints issued out of Waltham District Court charging Bianchi with one count each of dissemination of child pornography and dissemination of obscene matter and two counts of possession of child pornography.
Rich, Jaena, Sircar, Lefebvre, and Bianchi will be summonsed to court for arraignment.
In the past several months AG Reilly has charged several other people as part of his ongoing investigation into the dissemination of child pornography on the Internet.
Raymond Boshears, 45, of Southbridge. Boshears was indicted by a Worcester County Grand Jury on March 15, 2006, for possession with intent to disseminate child pornography and possession of child pornography. Prosecution of Boshears stems from a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children alleging that child pornography had been posted in a Yahoo chat room.
In February 2006, Michael Curley, 23, of Holliston, was arraigned in Framingham District Court on charges he allegedly disseminated child pornography on two occasions, in an online photo gallery and in an internet chat room.
Juan Aquino, 27, of Worcester, was charged in Worcester District Court in February 2006, with three counts each of possession of child pornography and intent to disseminate child pornography via a peer-to-peer file-sharing network.
Julio Acevedo, 20, of Chelsea, was charged in Chelsea District Court in November 2005, with allegedly offering to share computer images of children engaged in sexual activity through a peer-to-peer network.
Victor Bialski, 58, of Brighton, was charged in Brighton District Court in November 2005, with one count each of possession with intent to disseminate child pornography, possession with intent to disseminate obscene material and possession of child pornography. Bialski allegedly offered to share computer images of children engaged in sexual activity through a peer-to-peer network.
Since 1999, the Attorney General's Office has focused both criminal and consumer efforts in the high tech area. The Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crime Division investigates and prosecutes crimes from computer hacking to online scams that defraud consumers and businesses. The unit also helps protect the safety of our children as they "surf the net" by targeting online predators. AG Reilly appointed the first state-wide Internet Crimes Against Children prosecutor and has appointed a full-time education coordinator to keep up with the tremendous demand of visiting schools around the state teaching children and parents about the Internet.
Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Assistant Attorneys General Dana Leccese, Ina Howard-Hogan, Marc Jones, Matthew Shea, and Douglas Rice, all of AG Reilly's Corruption, Fraud and Computer Crime Division, are prosecuting the cases. The cases were investigated by State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office and the statewide Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force with the assistance of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Seattle Washington Police, and the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
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