A man who was freed from jail last month because of coronavirus was caught sending child pornography over the Internet, federal authorities in New Hampshire announced Tuesday.
Russell Graham had been awaiting trial for possession of child pornography but got a judge to release him April 9 after he argued he had health issues that made his confinement during the pandemic dangerous.
But by the beginning of this month he was back online and was snared by an undercover investigator whom he sent disturbing images of “prepubescent” girls, according to court documents.
A Homeland Security Investigations agent said it was clear the girls were prepubescent because of their lack of development or pubic hair. One image showed a girl naked and rubbing herself, while a video showed a girl performing oral sex on an adult male.
“In the photo, her wrists and legs have a purple wrap that appears to have been used to bind her,” wrote Special Agent Shawn Serra in an affidavit backing up the new charges.
Investigators said they first encountered Graham, 40, on the website www.motherless.com, where he said he liked “teen” pornography. The discussion then migrated to Wickr, which allows sharing encrypted messages. That’s where the video and images were shared, Agent Serra said.
The undercover investigator got Graham to send a resume on the premise of trying to get him a job in construction, and the resume listed a phone number that had been linked to Graham’s past.
He was arrested in 2017 for distribution and possession of child pornography and served a sentence. He had been working at a church in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the time, Agent Serra said.
Graham was on probation for that conviction when he was charged again in 2019 with possession of child pornography.
It was that charge that had him in jail when the coronavirus pandemic hit, and won him a release. He was wearing an ankle bracelet and said he was staying with friends in Lowell.
The new case against Graham was brought in New Hampshire because that’s where the undercover investigator who received the images was working.
