The following press release was issued on Monday, September 26 by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Defendant has prior federal conviction for possession of child pornography
BOSTON – A Taunton man pleaded guilty on Sept. 23, 2022 in federal court in Boston to possessing hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography.
Rudy Frabizio, 60, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris scheduled sentencing for Dec. 9, 2022. Frabizio was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in May 2021 and subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2021.
During a search of Frabizio’s residence on May 19, 2021, agents found a “microSD” memory card that contained at least hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography. The image and video files included material involving prepubescent minors, as well as the abuse of infants or toddlers. In addition, Frabizio uploaded images depicting child pornography via his Google account. Frabizio is a registered Level 2 sex offender due to an April 2009 conviction for possession of child pornography.
The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Due to his prior conviction, Frabizio faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England made the announcement. The Taunton Police Department provided valuable assistance with the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. Deitch of Rollins’ Criminal Division is prosecuting 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.