PORTLAND, Maine — A Massachusetts man pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to one count of transporting child pornography, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Matthew McElroy, 39, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, was arrested earlier this year after a federal agent in Maine investigating the distribution and production of child pornography received an email with three images of child pornography from a person later identified as McElroy, according to the prosecution version of events to which McElroy pleaded guilty.
McElroy claimed that the images depicted his niece and that he had sexual contact with her, a news release issued Friday by the federal prosecutor’s office said. After his arrest, McElroy admitted that he used his email account to trade child pornography
He faces between five and 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 fine.
McElroy, who has been held without bail since his arrest in February, is set to be sentenced Aug. 8.