PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Two men, one a former resident of Chelmsford, were arrested within three days of each other last month on similar charges of child pornography.
According to the Department of Justice, members of Homeland Security Investigations, the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Newport Police arrested former Chelmsford resident William Normandin, 43, on Oct. 29. This was two days after officials from the same agencies arrested Craig Mulvey, 39, in an unrelated case. Both men were charged with distributing and possessing child pornography.
Court documents show that HSI agents in Providence, R.I., received information from fellow agents in Ottawa, Canada, saying they had been notified that on Aug. 11, 2019, an individual with a username believed to belong to Normandin had uploaded a video of child pornography into a chat room on a social media platform used by others to view and distribute child pornography.
Investigators then determined that the illicit material had allegedly been uploaded from an IP address at Normandin’s residence. The ICAC Task Force also noted that child pornography was allegedly shared on the same social media site numerous times this past February by a different account that officials believe to belong to Normandin.
With all of that information, officers executed a court-authorized search at Normandin’s Newport residence on Oct. 29. Normandin’s smartphone was also searched by an ICAC Task Force analyst, who found screenshots and video stills believed to be from videos of child pornography.
Normandin appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond on a criminal complaint the same day, charged with distribution of child pornography and possessing and accessing child pornography.
He was later released on unsecured bond and electronic monitoring.
