Milford man admits receiving child sex abuse images through the Internet

Published 4:24 pm Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERT C. HARRINGTON, 55, of Milford, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to receipt of child pornography.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in January 2019, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information from Australian and Canadian law enforcement authorities that two usernames associated with an Internet Protocol (IP) address at Harrington’s Milford residence were sending and receiving images depicting the sexual abuse of girls through a web-based application.  On May 15, 2019, investigators searched Harrington’s residence and seized his tablet computer.  The tablet contained images and videos depicting child sex abuse.

Harrington has been detained since his arrest on May 15, 2019.  Judge Hall scheduled sentencing for October 14, 2021, at which time Harrington faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

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This investigation is being conducted by HSI with the assistance of the Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team (JACET), South Australia Police, Australian Federal Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.