Woonsocket man arrested after thousands of child porn images of three, four, and five year olds found

PROVIDENCE – A Woonsocket man arrested by members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force in February 2019, today admitted in federal court to having been in possession of more than 50,000 images and 200 videos of child pornography at the time of his arrest.

Appearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy, Jason Muschiano, 39, pled guilty to possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police Colonel James M. Manni, and Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge Jason Molina.

According to information presented to the court, during the month of November 2018, members of the ICAC task force conducted an online child exploitation investigation involving the use of peer-to-peer networks. Detectives observed an IP address they later determined belonged to Muschiano sharing files of suspected child pornography.

On February 14, 2019, members of the ICAC task force executed a court-authorized search of Muschiano’s residence. During the search, Muschiano admitted to law enforcement that he had downloaded and viewed child pornography depicting toddlers ages three, four, and five years old.

A full forensic review of digital storage devices seized from Muschiano’s residence revealed over 50,000 images and 200 videos depicting child pornography.

Muschiano is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22, 2020.

Possession of child pornography is punishable by statutory penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment; a term of supervised release of life; and a $5,000 special assessment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan.