Matthew Jayne Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Matthew Jayne, 44, of Manchester Village, Vermont, was arrested yesterday on a charge of possession of child pornography. Yesterday, Jayne had an initial appearance on a criminal complaint charging him with committing that offense on August 30, 2012. Today, the Hon. John M. Conroy, United States Magistrate Judge, held a hearing on the government’s motion for pre-trial detention of Jayne. Judge Conroy denied the motion and released Jayne on conditions, including that he refrain from unsupervised contact with children and submit to monitoring of his computer use.

Court records indicate that Jayne downloaded and distributed child pornography using Internet file sharing software. Records further indicate that a forensic preview of Jayne’s laptop computer revealed dozens of images of child pornography. Jayne was arrested following the execution of a search warrant at his Manchester Village home on August 30, 2012.

The complaint charging Jayne with possession of child pornography is an accusation only; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of this charge, he faces up to 10 years in prison. He could also be fined up to $250,000. The actual sentence, in the event of conviction, will be determined by the court with reference to the advisory Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Christina Nolan is handling the prosecution. Jayne is represented by Steven Barth of the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Burlington.