BOSTON A Provincetown man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston on child pornography charges.
Kerry Adams, 61, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris to 14 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. On April 20, 2021, Adams pleaded guilty to one count each of distribution, receipt and possession of child pornography.
Over the course of several months in 2019, investigators engaged in a covert investigation of individuals using peer-to-peer networks for the trafficking of child pornography. In the course of that investigation, agents downloaded child pornography files on four occasions from the same computer, which was traced to Adamss residence. On Oct. 17, 2019, investigators seized multiple devices, including laptops, thumb drives and SD cards from Adamss residence. During the on-scene forensic review of a laptop, investigators located files containing child pornography in folders associated with peer-to-peer software installed on the computer, including the files that the undercover investigator had downloaded directly from Adamss computer. Subsequent forensic analysis revealed hundreds of child pornography files on Adamss devices, including images of two children known to him.
Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; Frederick J. Regan, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Secret Service in Boston; and Barnstable Police Chief Matthew Sonnabend made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by Provincetown Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Weinstein, of Mendells Criminal Division, and Anne Paruti, Mendells Project Safe Childhood Coordinator and Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit, prosecuted the case.
The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys Offices and the DOJs 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 visitwww.projectsafechildhood.gov/.
Source: U.S. Secret Service