A 42-year-old Manchester man is facing 10 charges of possession of child sexual abuse images after turning himself in to police last week. James E. Pinet surrendered to Manchester police on October 29 and was held without bail, according to authorities.
The charges stem from a months-long investigation in which the Manchester Police Cyber Crime Unit identified Pinet, according to Boston 25 News. Investigators seized Pinet’s electronic devices and, police said, found multiple sexually explicit images of children on them.
Arrest Warrant Details the Charges
An arrest warrant was issued charging Pinet with 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, per the report. He turned himself in to Manchester police rather than being taken into custody elsewhere, and he was held without bail following his surrender.
Pinet is from Manchester, New Hampshire, the same city where the Cyber Crime Unit carried out its investigation, the station’s report notes.
What New Hampshire Law Says About Possession Charges
Under New Hampshire’s statute governing possession of child sexual abuse images, RSA 649-A:3, an affirmative defense can apply only in narrow circumstances — specifically when a person possesses fewer than three images and acts promptly and in good faith to address the material, without retaining it or allowing someone else to retain it, except as the statute otherwise permits. The excerpt of the statute reviewed for this report is truncated and does not lay out every condition of that defense.
These remain allegations at this stage of the case, and no information on subsequent court proceedings, a plea, or an outcome was available at the time of this report.
