A 45-year-old Middleboro man was arrested Sept. 23 and now faces a federal charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child, a crime carrying a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life. Kenneth Berry was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury in Boston and made an initial appearance in federal court there before being released on conditions.
Grand Jury Indictment Details Alleged Conduct
According to the indictment, Berry allegedly attempted to sex traffic a minor in Massachusetts on or about June 12, 2026. The case was announced Thursday by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston Division, as reported by Nemasket Week. The charge Berry faces also carries five years to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000, with any eventual sentence to be determined by a federal district court judge based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutes that govern criminal cases.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad A. Rocheville of the Criminal Division is prosecuting the case, per the same account from Nemasket Week. Investigators from the Massachusetts State Police, Boston Police Department and Brockton Police Department all assisted with the case, according to the outlet's reporting.
Case Brought Under Project Safe Childhood
Prosecutors said the case against Berry is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative the Department of Justice created in 2006 to protect children from exploitation and abuse. The U.S. Department of Justice describes the program as a response to what it has called a growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation.
The initiative is led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices together with the Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts. Its stated mission is to marshal federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit children, while also working to identify and rescue victims.
Case Follows Broader World Cup-Linked Sting
The Middleboro case surfaces months after a separate multi-agency undercover operation tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup led to the arrests of 13 people across Rhode Island and Massachusetts on suspicion of child exploitation, commercial sex and human trafficking, according to Whats Going On In Rhode Island. That report named a Kenneth Berry of Middleborough among seven Massachusetts men the FBI announced had been arrested in late June, alongside others including Julio Aguilar of Saugus.
The Massachusetts suspects named in that June sting reportedly faced charges including child enticement, attempting to engage in sex for a fee with a minor, and attempted rape of a child, per the outlet's reporting. Whats Going On In Rhode Island also reported that authorities described operations like it as designed to identify and arrest people who attempt to exploit children or engage in human trafficking around major international events.
