Sanbornton Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

CONCORD – A Sanbornton man pleaded guilty today in federal court to possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Timothy Ryan, 35, pleaded guilty to an information charging him with possession of child sexual abuse material.  U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe scheduled sentencing for March 12, 2024.

According to court records and statements made in court, the defendant was identified as a top offender in the state of New Hampshire for supplying CSAM through the peer-to-peer network BitTorrent.  Investigators traced the illicit internet activity to his residence, and later obtained a federal search warrant to seize and search his electronic devices.  Forensic examination of the defendant’s cell phone revealed the presence of approximately 2,600 files of apparent CSAM.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, a minimum 5 years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and mandatory restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation. Valuable assistance was provided by the New England Cyber Fraud Task Force, the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Nashua Police Department, the Grafton County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sanbornton Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasey Weiland is prosecuting the case. 

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 the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

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