Youth Suicide Prevention Project Manager arrested on child pornography charges

Colonel Darnell S. Weaver, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Director of the Department of Public Safety, announces that on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, members of the Rhode Island State Police/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested Jeffrey Hill, age 46, of Wakefield, Rhode Island for Possession of Child Pornography and Child Erotica Prohibited. Hill was identified as the Youth Suicide Prevention Project Manager at the Rhode Island Department of Health.

ICAC Task Force members recently initiated an investigation regarding an individual uploading child pornography to an email server. The Internet connection at Hill’s home was identified as allegedly being connected to the uploads of child pornography. Earlier today, ICAC Task Force members executed a court-authorized search warrant and arrest warrant at the Wakefield residence and arrested Hill. Hill had been previously identified as the owner and user of the email being investigated and an arrest warrant had been signed by a judge charging him with Possession of Child Pornography and Child Erotica Prohibited.

Hill was arraigned at Fourth Division District Court before Associate Judge Caruolo and held on $5,000 surety bail, which he subsequently posted. Mr. Hill was ordered additional special bail conditions which include no unsupervised contact with minors and restricted internet access.

A person found guilty of Possession of Child Pornography may be subject to a fine of not more than five thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. A person found guilty of Child Erotica Prohibited may be subject to a fine of not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

The Rhode Island Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force actively engages in investigative efforts to identify subjects involved in child exploitation-related activities. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force Program is administered by the Rhode Island State Police and supports a national network of multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task forces engaged in investigations, forensic examinations, and prosecutions related to Internet crimes against children and technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation. The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Warwick Police Department, Cranston Police Department, East Providence Police Department, North Kingstown Police Department, Portsmouth Police Department, Bristol Police Department, and special agents from Homeland Security Investigations and United States Postal Inspection Services.