Springfield Man Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Pornography

BOSTON – A Springfield man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography.  The defendant faced a mandatory minimum sentence due to a prior state conviction for statutory rape.

Alex Germaine, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 10 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release. In September 2017, Germaine pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

After Germaine accessed a Russian child pornography website, law enforcement executed a search warrant on July 29, 2016, and seized Germaine’s cell phone, which revealed multiple images of child pornography, including one involving a sex act perpetrated by an adult male against a prepubescent female. A subsequent search warrant was executed on Nov. 10, 2016, at Germaine’s residence in Springfield, where law enforcement seized computer discs containing child pornography.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Michael Shea, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and West Springfield Police Chief Ronald Campurciani made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex J. Grant of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood.  In 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse.  Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.