BOSTON – A Westfield man was charged in federal court Tuesday and faces a child pornography charge in a case investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Westfield Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
A press release issued by the District of Massachusetts office of the United States Attorney’s Office reports that U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston field division, announced Tuesday that Richard Starr, 56, of 46 King St., has agreed, in a written plea agreement filed Tuesday, to plead guilty to a charge of possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Starr, agents of the FBI, postal inspectors and agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement initiated an investigation in early 2007 of persons who had accessed websites “that were producing and selling videos containing child pornography.”
Pursuant to that investigation, federal agents visited Starr at his home on July 17, 2008, and Starr admitted that he had purchased memberships on child pornography websites and downloaded pictures and videos from those sites.
The complaint states that the agents asked Starr for his consent to search the computers at his residence and he said that, if they did search, “chances are you’ll find something.” But, he called a family member who is an attorney and subsequently declined to grant permission for a search of his residence.
In response, the federal agents asked Westfield police for assistance.
Det. Sgt Raymond Manos reports that he responded to Starr’s King Street home where Starr told him that he had been advised to refuse a search without a warrant.
Manos said that he secured the residence and kept Starr and his family outside while he secured a search warrant through the Westfield District Court.
With the warrant in hand, Manos, together with Det. Roxanne Bradley and FBI special agents Andrew Litowitz and Mary Geha, searched the residence and seized computers and computer media which were transported to the station where they were stored until they were turned over the FBI investigators who secured a warrant, on Jan. 12, 2012, from a U.S. Magistrate Judge to examine the seized material.
The forensic examination of the computers revealed “tens of thousands of digital image and video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct” most of which were saved in password-protected directories with suggestive titles such as “Preteen Heaven”, “WeAreLittleStars” or “Sweet Girlies.”
The press release notes that Starr faces as much as ten years in prison followed by supervised release for at least five years with a possibility of lifetime supervision. In addition, Starr could be fined $250,000.
