Registered sex offender indicted for allegedly possessing child pornography

PROVIDENCE – A Foster man convicted and incarcerated in 2017 for sharing sexually explicit photographs online with a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, and with whom he attempted to meet near her middle school to engage in sex, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on child pornography charges.

John Q. Adams, 31, was arrested on February 11, 2021, following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which determined that in January 2021, Adams allegedly uploaded video depicting a prepubescent female engaged in various sex acts with an adult male.

Adams, who has been detained since his arrest, was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury on charges of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Richard B Myrus, Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker, and Rhode Island State Police Superintendent James M. Manni.

If convicted as charged in the indictment, Adams faces statutory penalties of between 15 – 40 years of federal imprisonment followed by up to lifetime supervised release.