BOSTON, April 14, 2014—Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley today announced the region’s largest known state-level restitution order against a child pornography defendant.

ANDREW MCKINNON (D.O.B. 5/26/68) of Boston’s South End was ordered Friday to pay $30,000 in restitution to the now-adult victim, who had previously been identified by law enforcement officials, after admitting to possessing and distributing images of her abuse. McKinnon did not create the images: rather, he shared them after obtaining them and is not accused of sexual contact with her or any other children.

“We believe this represents the largest restitution order ever imposed on a child pornography defendant by a Massachusetts court,” Conley said. “Research shows that just knowing images of abuse are still circulating can make it almost impossible for victims to bring closure to the crimes against them. An order like this one can help identified victims make progress in their recovery that’s crucial to living a productive life.”

McKinnon was also sentenced to an 18-month house of correction sentence with six weeks behind bars and the balance suspended for three years, followed by eight years of probation. Under the terms of that probation, he was ordered to have no unsupervised contact – including employment, residence, or volunteer work – with any children under 16 and may not loiter or remain within 1000 feet of any school, library, toy store, or other location where children regularly congregate. Compliance with that order will be monitored with a GPS device he must wear. He must not use the internet except as required by work and must allow probation officers to inspect and search any computer and data storage device he does use at any time. He has no other criminal record.

Had the case proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Luke Goldworm of the DA’s Child Protection Unit would have introduced evidence and testimony to prove that McKinnon used a peer-to-peer file sharing service to obtain and disseminate specimens of child pornography, including specimens depicting the victim to whom he must pay restitution.

Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force last summer developed information that an unknown user of the service was distributing graphic video clips depicting child pornography. Troopers were able to connect with that user’s computer through the program and identified numerous files containing explicit images of children.

Using an administrative subpoena, investigators were able to obtain the subscriber information linked to the computer hosting the child pornography.  That subscriber information led troopers to McKinnon’s Union Park apartment, prosecutors said.  State Police then provided their evidence to the Boston Police Crimes Against Children Unit.

Members of the Boston Police Department along with agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force executed a search warrant at the address on July 18. McKinnon was not home at the time but was soon located at his place of employment.

Among the files recovered from McKinnon’s computer through a forensic examination of its contents were several known to child pornography investigators. The victim in those images was identified by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. McKinnon’s restitution order has been earmarked to help defray the costs of her ongoing therapy and financial losses associated with the physical and emotional trauma she endured as a child. It will be paid to a trust account created by her civil attorney.

The victim provided an impact statement to the court.

“I live every day with the horrible knowledge that many people somewhere are watching the most terrifying moments of my life and taking grotesque pleasure in them,” she wrote. “Unlike other forms of exploitation, thus one is never ending. Every day, people are trading and sharing videos of me as a little girl being raped in the most sadistic ways … I want you to know that dealing with the effects of the stress of random men looking at pictures of my sex abuse as a child is like a full-time job that wears me down and colors every aspect of my life.”

McKinnon was represented by attorney Steven Neyman.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.