Nashua Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material

CONCORD - A Nashua man pleaded guilty today in federal court to possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.

Brian Eric Hynes, 34, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty scheduled sentencing for August 15, 2024.

In August 2021, law enforcement reviewed chat rooms being used to exchange CSAM on an app called Viber. Law enforcement learned that an individual with the username "John ketg" was present in chat rooms where CSAM was posted and traced the username back to the defendant.

In February 2022, law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the defendant's electronic devices. When executing the warrant, law enforcement saw the defendant sitting in his vehicle. The defendant initially did not comply with law enforcement's commands to exit the vehicle and was seen swiping up on his phone. Although the defendant eventually exited the vehicle, he continued to swipe the phone. Law enforcement was able to secure the phone, and the recently used video player application displayed CSAM. A forensic examination of the phone recovered approximately 1,150 CSAM images. The web history further showed that the defendant had visited websites associated with CSAM, and he had saved bookmarks to websites with phrases and words indicative of CSAM.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison for possession of CSAM. The maximum sentence is 20 years in prison if the CSAM depicts a prepubescent minor or minor younger than 12. In addition, if a defendant has a qualifying prior offense, the charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Homeland Security Investigations and the Nashua Police Department led the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alexander S. Chen and Kasey Weiland are prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices and the DOJ's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

###