A 37-year-old Lynn man is facing a federal charge after investigators say they discovered approximately 138 videos depicting child sexual abuse material stored in the downloads folder of his cellphone. Zachary Brodeur was charged by criminal complaint with one count of receipt of child pornography and had his initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Sept. 29, authorities say.
Brodeur was arrested and charged with allegedly receiving child sexual abuse material, according to the United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts. As MassLive reports, Brodeur was first identified in an online chatroom, where he allegedly engaged with a law enforcement agent posing as a 14-year-old boy. He remains in state custody on related charges, the outlet notes.
Videos Allegedly Depicted Young Children
Authorities say the videos found on Brodeur's phone depicted minors between 5 and 11 years old, per the same account. The discovery reportedly came after a search of his device turned up the material sorted into his downloads folder.
The case also surfaces Brodeur's criminal history. He was previously convicted as a youthful offender for rape of a child and possession of child pornography in Massachusetts state courts, the report states. That prior record is distinct from the current federal complaint and has not been shown to affect the charge beyond what prosecutors have disclosed.
Conflicting Reports on Potential Sentence
How much prison time Brodeur could face if convicted is not entirely clear from the available record. The seed report states that the receipt-of-child-pornography charge carries a prison sentence of at least 15 years and up to 40 years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release ranging from five years to life. However, a separate excerpt of 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, the federal statute governing such offenses, states that a violation may be punished by a fine or imprisonment of not more than 15 years, or both, with different treatment applying to certain prior convictions. The two figures were not independently reconciled, and federal district court judges ultimately impose sentences based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and governing statutes.
Separately, a federal court record identifies a District of Massachusetts case captioned USA v. Brodeur, numbered 24-10051, in which District Judge Julia E. Kobick issued a memorandum and order on Sept. 19, 2024, denying a motion for immediate transport or to dismiss the indictment, according to GovInfo, Administrative Office of the United States Courts.
Sentencing Trends in Similar Federal Cases
Nationally, federal sentencing data show a steady climb in penalties for offenses like the one Brodeur faces. The average guideline minimum for non-production child-pornography offenders rose from 98 months in fiscal year 2005 to 136 months in fiscal year 2019, while the average actual sentence increased more gradually, from 91 months to 103 months over the same period, according to the United States Sentencing Commission.
