Former Attleboro Police Sergeant Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Receive Child Pornography

PROVIDENCE –Richard F. Woodhead, 54, of South Attleboro, Mass., a former Attleboro police sergeant, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to an information charging him with attempted receipt of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police; and Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for New England.

Woodhead was arrested on April 6, 2017, by HSI agents and members of the ICAC task force.

According to information presented to the Court, between September 22, 2016, and January 19, 2017, Woodhead posted an online advertisement entitled, “Perv on your daughter – m4m.”  In this advertisement, the defendant requested to see nude pictures of people’s daughters.  Woodhead posted this advertisement online multiple times between September 2016 and January 2017.

In January 2017, a Rhode Island State Police detective assigned to the ICAC task force discovered the “Perv on your daughter” advertisement.  The detective responded to the advertisement in an undercover capacity, and communicated with Woodhead via email. The detective pretended to be the guardian of a young child.  During these conversations, Woodhead requested a photograph of the child and described in explicit terms the types of sexual relations he wanted to have with the child.

On January 26, 2017, Woodhead agreed to continue the conversations via telephone. An HSI agent, acting in an undercover capacity as the guardian, had three conversations with Woodhead, all of which were recorded by law enforcement. During these telephone calls, the agent and the defendant discussed meeting so that Woodhead might engage in sexual relations with the child.  During these conversations, Woodhead asked the agent to send him naked pictures of the child so that he could become sexually aroused.  

On April 6, 2017, ICAC task force members and HSI agents executed a court-authorized search warrant at the defendant’s residence in South Attleboro.  During that search, behind a wall in a secret compartment of a closet off of the master bedroom, a state police detective located a thumb drive and four discs, along with nylons, two bottles of acetone, and a picture of a school-aged female.  One disc contained a video, which depicted prepubescent boys masturbating and engaging in sexual acts.  The thumb drive contained nude photographs of minor teenage girls engaged in the lascivious exhibition of the genitals.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith, who accepted Woodhead’s guilty plea, is scheduled to sentence Woodhead on November 3, 2017.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert.

###