Providence Man Pleads Guilty To Child Pornography Possession

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Providence man admitted in federal court Tuesday to using the internet to view child pornography.

John Amaral, 29, pleaded guilty to possessing and accessing child pornography.

The FBI identified Amaral's IP address on an internet network designed to facilitate anonymous communication and hide the identity of people looking to view, upload or download child pornography.

Prosecutors said network administrators established protocols that made it difficult for law enforcement to identify individual IP users. They did so by using software that caused users to move through several online networks around the world, making IP addresses difficult to track.

With the authorization of a federal court judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, the FBI used a "network investigative technique" to log into the network and identity people's IP addresses. This how the FBI discovered Amaral was viewing child pornography. The FBI has since seized the website.

Prosecutors said Amaral possessed videos and pictures of prepubescent children being sexually abused.

Amaral is scheduled to be sentenced on June 16.