Dalton Man Pleads Guilty To Possessing Child Pornography

BOSTON – A Dalton man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Springfield to possessing child pornography.

Jared Sprague, 25, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to possessing child pornography. Sprague is being held in custody pending sentencing which is scheduled for Oct. 7, 2014.

In 2012, agents executed a search warrant at Sprague’s residence and seized a computer that contained approximately 100 files of child pornography, including files that involved prepubescent minors subjected to sadistic or violent sexual conduct.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Sprague has agreed to be sentenced to between 48 and 78 months in prison, 10 years of supervised release, to pay restitution to the minor females depicted in the child pornography collection, and to forfeit his computer media. Sprague also faces a maximum $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Timothy P. Alben, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; and Dalton Police Chief Jeffrey E. Coe, made the announcement. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of Ortiz's Springfield Branch Office.