BOSTON, July 19, 2013—A South End man was arraigned today after an investigation into the use of peer-to-peer filing sharing programs involved in the distribution of child pornography, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

ANDREW MCKINNON (D.O.B. 5/26/68) was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on a charge of possession of child pornography. 

Assistant District Attorney Emily Hamrock recommended that bail be set at $250,000 and, if McKinnon is released, he be required to wear a GPS monitor, have no contact with children under age 16, stay away from all schools, not use the internet, and allow the Department of Probation to search his computer.  Judge Thomas Horgan imposed bail of $150,000 and ordered McKinnon to wear a GPS monitor, have no contact with children under 16, and stay away from schools.

According to prosecutors, State Police assigned to the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force developed information that an unknown user of a peer-to-peer file-sharing program 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 shortly before 6:00 p.m. yesterday.  McKinnon was not home at the time but was located at his place of work nearby.

During the course of the search, investigators discovered additional computer files depicting child pornography that had been downloaded just two days earlier, prosecutors said.  McKinnon allegedly made comments to police that the folder in which those images were stored was used exclusively by him, prosecutors said.

“The images discovered by investigators are graphic and disturbing,” Conley said.  “They document rape and abuse of innocent children. And in the digital age, images like these can never truly be confiscated and destroyed. As they grow older, the victims must live with the knowledge that their most private suffering can be shared, traded, and distributed with the click of a button.”

Though McKinnon had volunteered as a Little League coach in the past, he is not accused of any offenses involving contact with any of the players he coached or any other child, Conley said.

“Nonetheless, parents should use this as an opportunity to make sure their children know that they can always talk to you about any problems or worries they have and that no one who truly cares about them would want them to keep secrets from you.”

McKinnon is represented by Michael Roitman.  He will return to court August 22.

–30–

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