Pawtucket man sentenced to seven years on child porn charges
Pawtucket man sentenced to seven years on child porn charges
PROVIDENCE – A Pawtucket man arrested twice within five months on child pornography charges was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Providence on Friday, Jan. 27, to 84 months in federal prison.
Robert MacGregor, 49, was also sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William Smith to a life term of supervised release upon completion of his prison sentence.
MacGregor was among 20 people arrested in August 2010 on child pornography charges as the result of an investigation by the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit/Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
MacGregor’s sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha, State Police Superintendent Colonel Steven O’Donnell, and ICE Special Agent Bruce Foucart.
On Dec. 15, 2011, Macgregor was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of receiving, possessing and distributing child pornography. He was arraigned two weeks later in federal court and released on bond with conditions that he refrain from the use of a computer with internet access and refrain from possessing pornography of any kind.
On Feb. 15, 2011, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond vacated the order setting MacGregor’s conditions of release and ordered him detained after he was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of child pornography as well as in violation of the terms of his federal release. MacGregor pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, 2011. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Rogers.
The ICAC Task Force is a Department of Justice grant-funded program administered by the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit. It is comprised of detectives from the Rhode Island State Police and Providence, West Warwick, and Coventry police departments, as well as an agent from ICE-Homeland Security Investigations. The objective of the ICAC is to form strong working relationships between local, state and federal law enforcement in order to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute online child exploitation and child pornography crimes.
