25-Year-Old East Boston Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Possession & Distribution Of Child Pornography

Thursday, August 15, 2024, 7:30 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BOSTON, MA.- As a result of a Project Safe Childhood investigation, on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, a 25-year-old East Boston, Massachusettes man appeared in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusettes and was sentenced to federal prison in connection with the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

     According to U.S. Acting Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Christopher Vladimir Pineda Martinez, 25, appeared in court and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns to five years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Pineda Martinez was also ordered to pay $3000 in restitution.

     In May 2024, Pineda Martinez entered guilty pleas to one count of Possession of Child Pornography; and one count of Distribution of Child Pornography.

     According to documents filed with the district court, Investigators of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations were able to identify Pineda Martinez as a member of several private large-scale online group chats involved in the distribution of child pornography. 

     On December 12, 2022, Pineda Martinez distributed eight videos depicting child pornography in three online chat groups on an online platform. At the time of his arrest, Investigators uncovered an additional 54 videos of child pornography involving children as young as six years old within the chat platform’s application on his cell phone.

     The investigation, arrest, and successful prosecution of Pineda Martinez was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the United States Department of Justice.