Gerald J. Silva, Child Pornography Receipt and Possession, Rhode Island 2012

Convicted Probation Officer Hoarded 10,000 Child Porn Videos

Gerald J. Silva, a Rhode Island state probation officer assigned to the sex offender unit, was convicted by a federal court jury in Providence on Monday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Silva, 59, of Coventry, was convicted on six counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He faces a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 20 years in federal prison and up to lifetime supervised release for receiving child pornography, and up to 10 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.

The conviction stems from an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Toronto Police Service, dubbed Operation Spade. The investigation revealed that Silva had purchased 75 different videos depicting child pornography in 22 separate orders for $1,589 via the Toronto company’s website between October 2011 and April 2012.

The videos, depicting minor and prepubescent males involving the lascivious exhibitions of the genitals, were shipped to Silva’s Coventry residence. Postal Inspectors, assisted by Coventry Police and Rhode Island State Police troopers and officers from the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, executed a court authorized federal search warrant at Silva’s residence on September 27, 2012, at which time they seized numerous DVDs depicting child pornography and a laptop computer.

Silva argued to the jury that he ordered and collected the videos as part of a project he had undertaken in his role as a state probation officer. However, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all charges after less than one hour of deliberations on Monday afternoon.

Silva is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on May 16, 2014. At the Government’s request, Silva was ordered detained following his conviction. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Terrence P. Donnelly as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

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