Paul Estus, Possessing Child Pornography, Rhode Island 2018

A 71-year-old Westerly man has been charged with possessing child pornography, just months shy of the end of his supervised release. Paul Estus was previously convicted in 2015 for possession of child pornography and sentenced to 36 months in federal prison, followed by 5 years supervised release. A condition of Estus’ supervised release required him to submit to unannounced examination of his electronic devices.

According to court documents, on August 15, 2018, United States Probation Officers conducted a home visit at Estus’ Westerly residence. During the unannounced visit, Probation Officers inspected two cell phones owned by Estus and allegedly discovered images of child pornography on both phones. The phones were seized for further analysis.

A court-authorized forensic examination of the cell phones by a Warwick Police Detective assigned to the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force allegedly revealed 273 images of child pornography and 15 videos of child pornography. Estus was arrested earlier today.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The arrest of Estus and the filing of a criminal complaint charging Estus with possession of child pornography are announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Chief U.S. Probation Officer John A. Marshall, and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker. The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force and the U.S. Probation Office.

Estus is scheduled to appear in court for a detention hearing at a later date. The public is urged to report any information regarding child exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

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