Nashua Man Sentenced to 53 Months in Federal Prison for Possessing Over 1100 Images of Child Sexual Abuse

CONCORD - A Nashua man was sentenced today in federal court for possessing over 1,100 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Brian Eric Hynes, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya B. McCafferty to 53 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release. On May 6, 2024, Hynes pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

"The defendant exacerbated the pain and suffering of countless child survivors by possessing images of their abuse," said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. "He then tried to cover up his crime by deleting suspected CSAM when he was confronted by law enforcement. Today's sentence serves as a warning to those who think that applications (apps) and websites will give them enough anonymity to continue victimizing children. Law enforcement will identify you, investigate you, and prosecute you, and you will be incarcerated for your role in the child exploitation epidemic."

"Hynes possessed over a thousand images, each capturing the pain and trauma of a child. The possession and demand for these images perpetuates that pain and today's sentence shows the consequences-federal prison time," said Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol. "HSI continues to work alongside our partners to detect and bring to justice predators who seek out child sexual abuse material."

In August 2021, law enforcement reviewed chat rooms being used to exchange CSAM on an app called Viber. Law enforcement learned that an individual with the username "John ketg" was present in chat rooms where CSAM was posted and traced the username back to the defendant. In February 2022, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the defendant's electronic devices. When executing the warrant, law enforcement saw the defendant sitting in his vehicle. The defendant initially did not comply with law enforcement's commands to exit the vehicle and was seen swiping up on his phone. Although the defendant eventually exited the vehicle, he continued to swipe the phone. Officers subdued the defendant and secured the phone. The recently used video player application on his phone displayed CSAM. A forensic examination of the phone revealed approximately 1,150 CSAM images, primarily depicting young girls under 10 years old. The web history further showed that the defendant had visited websites associated with CSAM, and he had saved bookmarks to websites with phrases and words indicative of CSAM.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Nashua Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander S. Chen and Kasey Weiland 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.

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