A 35-year-old Harwich man pleaded guilty last week in federal court in Boston to one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, according to the office of Joshua Levy, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the district of Massachusetts.
Jonathan Fleischmann was arrested and charged on May 16, 2023, and remains in federal custody. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs has scheduled sentencing for Oct. 16.
Between March 17 and 18, 2023, Fleischmann’s co-workers saw his cellphone downloading suspected child sexual abuse media files at work, according to the affidavit. The phone was left open and charging on a counter at their workplace when it happened, according to the statement.
A subsequent search of the device found about 255 images and 55 videos that contained suspected child sexual abuse materials, according to the affidavit.
Pleads guilty to separate charges on May 23
On May 23, Fleischmann pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in state prison for separate state charges in Barnstable Superior Court for invading a Yarmouth home and forcibly taking a 16-year-old female at gunpoint into her house as she came home from school in 2020, according to Levy’s office.
That investigation also revealed that Fleischmann had accessed a dark web hidden service on his cell phone dedicating to the trafficking of child sexual abuse material.
Fleischmann is a registered as a Level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts due to previous convictions of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, in Barnstable District Court in 2006; and of open and gross lewdness, in Barnstable Superior Court in 2017, according to an affidavit filed with court papers. Level 3 offenders have a high risk of reoffending and pose a high degree of danger to the public, according to the state website.
The charge of possession of child sexual abuse materials provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, according to the statement. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, the project uses federal, state and local resources to find and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as find and rescue the individuals harmed.
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @zanerazz.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Sentencing next for Harwich resident for photos, videos on phone
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