Greenwich Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing Child Sex Abuse Images and Videos

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that CHRISTOPHER BATES JR., 37, of Greenwich, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in New Haven to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for possessing images and videos of child sexual abuse.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an international law investigation revealed that an IP address at Bates’ residence was being used to access the dark web to view images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.  On November 30, 2022, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents interviewed Bates, who consented to a search of his electronic devices.  A forensic review of one of his laptops revealed approximately 1,222 images and two videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, including infants.

Bates is an attorney admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut.

As part of his sentence, Bates was ordered to pay restitution of $15,000, an assessment of $17,000 to fund the Child Pornography Victims Reserve fund, and additional assessments of $5,100.

Bates was arrested on December 13, 2022.  On February 7, 2024, he pleaded guilty to possessing and accessing with intent to view child pornography.

Bates, who is released on a $300,000 bond under electronic monitoring, is required to report to prison on July 11.

This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of the Greenwich Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

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.