For the second time in three days, agents from Homeland Security Investigations, members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and Newport Police executed a court-authorized search of a Newport residence and arrested a Newport resident on federal child pornography charges.
Agents and officers today arrested William H. Normandin, 43, on charges of distributing and possessing child pornography. On Tuesday, members of the same the law enforcement agencies arrested Craig A Mulvey, 39, on the same charges, in an unrelated case.
According to court documents, in January 2020, HSI agents in Providence received information from HSI agents in Ottawa that they had been notified that on August 11, 2019, an individual, with a user name later determined to allegedly belong to Normandin, had uploaded a video of child pornography into a chat room on a social media platform used by some to view and distribute child pornography. It was later determined by investigators in Rhode Island that the child pornography had allegedly been uploaded from an IP address at Normandin’s residence. Subsequently, the ICAC Task Force received additional information that child pornography was allegedly shared on the same social media platform on multiple occasions in February 2020 by a user determined to allegedly be Normandin while utilizing a different account.
Agents and officers executed a court-authorized search at Normandin’s residence today. A preliminary review of Normandin’s smartphone conducted by a Computer Forensic Analyst who is a member of the ICAC Task Force revealed screen shots/video stills of videos that are alleged to be child pornography.
Normandin appeared this afternoon before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on a criminal complaint charging him with distribution of child pornography and possessing and accessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge David Magdycz, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police Colonel James M. Manni, and Newport Police Chief Gary T. Silva.
Normandin was released on unsecured bond and electronic monitoring.
A federal criminal complaint is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. McAdams.
