Previously convicted sex offender sentenced to prison on new charges

PROVIDENCE – A registered sex offender convicted in Rhode Island state court in 1999 on charges of first- and second-degree child molestation and sentenced to fifteen years to serve in state prison, was sentenced today to ten years in federal prison, following his conviction in federal court in October 2019 on a charge of possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

In January 2019, Peter R. Medeiros, 59, of Pawtucket, while on state probation, was found by the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to have downloaded 268 image files of child pornography depicting prepubescent minors, some as young as infants, and images depicting sadistic/ masochistic/ violent sexually explicit conduct.

The ICAC Task Force was alerted to Medeiros’ online activities by virtue of a Cybertip Report sent by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Medeiros was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith to 120 months in federal prison to be followed by lifetime federal supervised release. The court ordered Medeiros to pay $3,000 restitution to each victim depicted in the images he possessed that requested compensation.