PROVIDENCE — Christopher J. Skinner, 33, of Providence, a registered sex offender previously convicted of child pornography in 2010 and 2014, and incarcerated, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence today to possession of child pornography , announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.
In January 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children notified the Rhode Island State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force that six files of sexual abuse material on children had been downloaded. A Homeland Security Investigations officer viewed one of the files and determined it contained child pornography images. Further investigation by a State Police detective assigned to the ICAC task force determined that the footage was downloaded from an IP address attributed to Skinner’s residence.
On February 16, 2022, law enforcement executed a federal warrant to search Skinner’s residence. A forensic examination of Skinner’s phone identified approximately 29 images containing child sexual abuse material.
According to court records, in 2010 Skinner was convicted of possession of child pornography by the United States Air Force and sentenced to 2 years in prison and a dishonorable Air Force discharge. air; and in 2014, Skinner was convicted of possession of child pornography in Rhode Island state court and sentenced to 10 years in prison – 3 years to serve.
Skinner was also found guilty of failing to register as a sex offender.
At sentencing on October 6, 2022, Skinner faces a statutory sentence of at least 10 years in prison, followed by a sentence of up to life supervised release. The defendant’s sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of US sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Lee H. Vilker.
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