PORTLAND — A Biddeford man has pleaded guilty to possession of child sexual abuse materials in U.S. District Court in Portland.
Jeffrey Gray, 61, entered the guilty plea on Feb. 14. He was ordered to be held in federal custody pending sentencing on one count of possession of child pornography later this year. Gray, who was previously convicted of a sex crime in New Hampshire, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Records on file at the court show federal agents executed a search warrant at Gray’s Biddeford home in September, following reports that he had shared child sexual abuse material over a peer-to-peer file sharing network.
Investigators seized eight electronic devices, and based on material recovered from them, executed a second search warrant in November, recovering three more devices.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney for Maine Darcie McElwee, a forensic examination of the devices revealed hundreds of child sexual abuse images and videos.
Gray has a previous conviction in Rockingham (New Hampshire) Superior Court in 2012 for aggravated felonious sexual assault.
Homeland Security Investigations and Maine State Police investigated the case.
Anyone wishing to report an incident involving possession, distribution, receipt, or production of child pornography may file a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://report.cybertip.org/ or 1-800-843-5678. The report will be forwarded to a law enforcement agency for investigation and action. For an emergency, people should call 911, the U.S. Attorney’s Office advised.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children via the internet, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
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