Investigation by Fall River Police, material showing child sex abuse of young children, leads to prison sentence for Massachusetts man

BOSTON – A Massachusetts man was sentenced Tuesday in connection with receiving child pornography, including images of an infant.

Paul Weddington, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release. On March 9, 2022, Weddington pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography.

According to court records, in November 2020, Nichole Cyr of Fall River was arrested for child exploitation offenses after child sexual abuse material, including images and videos, were located on her cell phones. Further analysis of Cyr’s phones found conversations with Weddington in which Weddington received CSAM from Cyr that depicted two children who were two and seven years old and known to Cyr. Following the investigation, Weddington’s phone was seized during a search of his residence in February 2021. The phone contained screenshots of an apparent video chat with Cyr in which CSAM of the two-year-old child was displayed.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; and Fall River Police Chief Paul Gauvin made the announcement Tuesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Paruti, Chief of Rollins’ 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, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.