Rhode Island man arrested twice on child porn charges, sentenced to prison

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Pascoag man arrested twice by Homeland Security Investigations agents and members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for being in possession of images and videos depicting child pornography was sentenced Monday to five years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

Jacob S. Munroe, 24, pled guilty on November 15, 2021, to a three-count information charging him with two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography. No plea agreement was filed.

According to charging documents and information presented to the court, in November 2018, HSI agents developed information that an IP address at Munroe’s residence was used to post at least 19 images depicting child pornography on an Internet messaging and networking application. Munroe was arrested on June 5, 2019, when dozens of images and videos of child pornography were discovered during a court-authorized search of his home and cell phone.

On November 4, 2020, Munroe was arrested for a second time when it was determined that he had downloaded hundreds of images depicting child pornography while he was free on bond and awaiting trial.

Appearing Monday before U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., Munroe was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison to be followed by 10 years of federal supervised release.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P Donnelly.