Branford Man Pleads Guilty Of Child Porn Possession Charge: Feds

BRANFORD, CT — A 42-year-old Branford man, who already was listed on Connecticut's sex offender registry, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to one count of possession of child pornography, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Leonard C. Boyle.

Michael Holm pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport. He had been convicted of the same charge in December 2010, according to the Connecticut registry. Eight months later in August 2011, Holm was sentenced to three months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, federal prosecutors said.

In court documents and statements from the 2021 case, prosecutors said that from approximately September 2014 to March 2021, "Holm knowingly possessed child pornography, including on his iPhone and in his online Dropbox account. He also used various other websites and mobile applications, such as Chat Step, Kik, Discord, Skype, and others, to distribute child pornography to others, sometimes in exchange for other child pornography in return."

Prosecutors said that a review of Holm’s iPhone and online accounts revealed that, "during this time period, he possessed at least 142 unique image files and 118 unique video files of child pornography, including images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers."

Holm was arrested in May of this year, and has been in custody since. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.

Prosecutors said Holm "engaged in some of this conduct while he was on federal supervised release" for the prior child pornography offense.

At his upcoming sentencing, Holm faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, and a maximum term of 20 years. His potential penalties are enhanced based on his prior federal conviction for possession of child pornography.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations(HIS) and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N.Patel.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.