Massachusetts lawyer sentenced to prison after over 23,000 images and videos of child pornography found

BOSTON – A local attorney was sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston for child pornography charges.

Hanford Chiu, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 110 months in prison and five years of supervised release. In February 2020, Chiu was convicted by a federal jury of one count each of receipt and possession of child pornography. Chiu was arrested and charged in August 2018.

Following a search of Chiu’s residence in Brighton on Aug. 22, 2018, forensic analysis of Chiu’s custom-built desktop computer revealed over 23,000 images and videos of child pornography. Chiu had accessed child pornography files as recently as the morning law enforcement agents executed the federal search warrant at his home.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and William S. Walker, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anne Paruti and Adam Deitch of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

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 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/.