Portsmouth Man Charged with Child Porn Possession

A 19-year-old Portsmouth man is facing charges of child porn possession after he allegedly uploaded illegal images to Facebook and Instagram.

Members of the State Police Computer Crimes Unit/Internet Crimes Against Children Task force and the Portsmouth Police Department arrested Dylan Mello, of 24 Child St., on Monday after an investigation that began with a report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an individual in Rhode Island was uploading the porn to Instagram.

Mello was identified as a potential suspect during the investigation and soon, Mello was linked to a Facebook account that also had child porn on it.

Mello was arrested Monday on an unrelated larceny charge by Portsmouth Police. A Portsmouth officer and a member of the ICAC Task Force “developed information during the arrest which substantiated [Mello’s] ownership and control of the Instagram and Facebook accounts,” the state police said in a release.

A cell phone was also seized for further investigation.

Mello was arraigned in Second Division District Court in Newport and was released on $2,000 surety bail. He was ordered not to have any unsupervised contact with children or use the Internet.

Mello is due to appear in court on March 17.

Police said it does not appear that Mello had any inappropriate contact with children.

A person found guilty of Possession of Child Pornography may be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both.