Worcester Man Gets 5-Year Prison Sentence for Child Pornography

WORCESTER, MA—After Christopher Rondeau was arrested, he confessed to downloading child pornography, and told agents they would find communication of a sexualized variety with a 14-year-old girl on his cell phone.

Rondeau, 31, was sentenced on Wednesday, Oct. 5, in U.S. District Court in Worcester on child pornography charges, and given 68 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

In July 2016, Rondeau pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography.

On Sept. 21, 2015, law enforcement officers searched Rondeau’s residence in Worcester. Agents in that home recovered several computers and other storage devices with more than 1,700 images and videos containing child pornography. Rondeau was not home during the search, but was arrested shortly afterward.

Following his arrest, Rondeau confessed to downloading child pornography and also explained that agents would find sexualized communications with a 14-year-old girl on his cellphone. Agents searched the phone and found those messages.

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 DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

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