Weymouth Man Charged With Possession of More Than 15,000 Child Porn Files

A Weymouth man and former youth soccer coach faces child pornography charges after a search of his apartment by police.

James Meagher, 49, was arraigned this week on six counts of possession of child pornography and distributing materials with a nude child. He was ordered held on $30,000 cash bail. If he makes bail, he must be fitted with a GPS device, surrender his passport, can’t use any electronic device with internet access, can’t be near or have contact with anyone under the age of 18, and must comply with all demands from the state Department of Children and Families.

According to court documents, an investigation was initiated on July 28 by a CyperTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Two days later, police executed a search warrant at Meagher’s apartment on Winter Street.

A digital forensic expert previewed a laptop and seven USB thumb drives that allegedly belonged to Meagher. Over 15,000 pictures and videos featuring children were found on the USB drive, with several hundred more found in a folder titled “Yahoo Messenger photo sharing” on his computer. The files were organized into 69 other folders within the initial folder.

An attorney for Weymouth Youth Soccer told the Patriot Ledger that there appears to be no connection between the charges and the one season Meagher spent last fall. As an assistant coach Meagher did not have one-on-one time with any of the players. The organization did conduct a background check on Meagher but did not find a criminal history.

Meagher is due back in court on Aug. 31. The case remains under investigation.