Biddeford Man Sentenced for Child Exploitation Offense

PORTLAND, Maine: A Biddeford man was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland for possessing child sex abuse materials.

U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Jeffrey Gray, 63, to 10 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Gray pleaded guilty on February 13, 2023.

According to court records, in September 2022, federal agents executed a search warrant at Gray’s  residence following reports that he had shared child sexual abuse material over a peer-to-peer file sharing network. Investigators seized eight electronic devices, and based on material recovered from several of those devices, executed a second search warrant in November 2022, recovering three additional devices. A forensic examination of the devices revealed hundreds of child sexual abuse images. Gray has a previous conviction in Rockingham (New Hampshire) Superior Court in 2012 for aggravated felonious sexual assault.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine State Police investigated the case.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child sexual abuse material: Child sexual abuse material – referred to in legal terms as “child pornography” – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received 36 million reports of the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials. To file a report with NCMEC, go to https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: 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 the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.

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