Adam C. Cobb, Child Pornography, Rhode Island 2015

Adam C. Cobb, 47, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, has pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography, a federal crime that has left the community shaken.

According to court documents, Cobb was arrested in April 2015 after an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (RI ICAC). The investigation began in January 2015, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported to the RI ICAC that an individual in Rhode Island had uploaded images of child pornography to Tumblr.com.

The investigation determined that the Internet address at Cobb’s Portsmouth residence was used to upload the images. On March 5, 2015, ICAC Task Force members and HSI agents, supported by Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents, executed a court-authorized search warrant at Cobb’s residence and seized various digital media, computers, and cellular phones.

Additionally, a cell phone was seized from Cobb by Customs and Border Patrol agents at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport as he entered the United States, having traveled from Tokyo, Japan. A forensic examination of the digital media seized resulted in the discovery of photos and videos of child pornography depicting two juvenile females.

With the assistance of the Baltimore, Maryland Police Department and HSI offices in Baltimore and in London, England, the RI ICAC determined the identity of both females. Investigators determined that both juvenile females were known to Cobb.

Cobb, who was arrested on April 3, 2015, is currently detained in federal custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2016, by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Matthew J. Etre, Special Agent in Charge of HSI for New England, and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.

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