Massachusetts Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

WASHINGTON –   Chris Allen Oake, 59, of Acton, Mass., was arrested today on child pornography charges, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Carmen M. Ortiz, and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security in Boston.                                                                           

Oake was arrested on an indictment filed under seal in the District of Massachusetts on March 23, 2011, and unsealed today, which charges Oake with one count of transportation of child pornography, two counts of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  

The penalty for each charge of transportation and receipt of child pornography is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison up to a maximum of 20; and a maximum of 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.

The charges against Oake are a result of “Operation Nest Egg,” an ongoing and joint investigation led by the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, HSI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.   Operation Nest Egg, launched in February 2008, targeted approximately 500 individuals located throughout the world for their involvement in an online group dedicated to trading images of child pornography.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.   For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case against Oake was investigated by HSI, CEOS’s High Technology Investigative Unit, Massachusetts State Police, and the Acton Police Department.   The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael I. Yoon of the District of Massachusetts and CEOS Trial Attorney Bonnie L. Kane of the Criminal Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations.   The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.