Amherst Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Possessing Enormous Child Pornography Collection

BOSTON - An Amherst, Mass. man has been sentenced in federal court in Springfield, Mass. for possessing more than 100,000 files of sexual abuse material (CSAM). The defendant possessed disturbing images of violent acts including a female being shot in the head, a cat in a blender and a dog being beaten to death.

Daniel Tocci, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to four years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. The government recommended a sentence of 70 months in prison. In September 2025, Tocci pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

During a search of Tocci's Amherst residence in November 2023, it was revealed that Tocci possessed over 100,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors. More than 100,000 CSAM files were found saved across five thumb drives and more than 10,000 CSAM files were found on Tocci's laptop. Some CSAM files portrayed sadistic or masochistic conduct or sexual exploitation of a toddler.

Tocci's laptop also contained extremely disturbing images of violent acts, such as a cat being killed by being put in a blender; a male shooting a female in the head; a dog being beaten to death; severed limbs; as well as images and videos of bestiality. Tocci's devices also revealed Google searches related to child sexual abuse, such as "countries with legal prostitution under 18."

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Amherst Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

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 the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.