Bridgeport Resident Charged with Possessing and Trading Images Depicting Sexual Abuse of Children
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ROBERT J. MOSLEY, 53, of Bridgeport, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with child pornography offenses.
Mosley, who has been detained in state custody on a parole violation since January 28, 2020, appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel via video conference.
As alleged in the complaint, in 2016, Mosley was convicted in Connecticut Superior Court of possession of child pornography in the second degree. He was sentenced for that offense to 10 years in jail, execution suspended after six years, and 20 years of probation. Mosley was released on parole in November 2018.
It is further alleged that, on January 28, 2020, Connecticut parole officers and Connecticut state troopers conducted a home visit at Mosley’s residence. During the visit, Mosley was found in possession of an unapproved smart phone, and an approved mobile phone that contained suspected child pornography. Investigators seized both phones and Mosley was remanded to custody. Subsequent analysis of the seized phones and a cloud storage account maintained by Mosley revealed thousands of images and hundreds of video depicting the sexual abuse of children, primarily boys between the ages of 2 and 14. In addition, analysis of Mosley’s e-mail account revealed that he sent numerous e-mails soliciting child pornography, sent images of child pornography to others, and sent links to his cloud storage account.
The criminal complaint charges Mosley with receipt of child pornography and solicitation of child pornography, offenses that carry a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years. Mosley is also charged with possession of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. The penalties in this case are enhanced based on Mosley’s alleged criminal history.
U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of the Connecticut Department of Correction Division of Parole and Community Services. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel J. Gentile and Law Student Intern Nelson Barrette.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.