New charges in child porn case

SALEM – Alexander Fridman, the Swampscott man already facing distribution of child pornography charges, pleaded innocent to additional charges of possession of child pornography Tuesday in Salem Superior Court.Fridman, 32, who lives with his parents at 12 Priscilla Road, Swampscott, pleaded innocent to 40 additional indictments for possession of child pornography in connection with his arrest on Nov. 2.As recommended by the prosecutor and defense, Judge Howard J. Whitehead agreed not to impose no bail on the newest charges since Fridman already has a $75,000 cash bail set on the other five indictments that accuse him of having 1,000 child pornography images on his computers and sending some of those images to undercover police officers in Swampscott and Virginia.The newest set of charges apparently surfaced as a result of the ongoing investigation by authorities.Authorities say Fridman sent some 130 images over the Internet to a Dumfries, Va. detective who posed as a 13-year-old boy named David for several months during their communication.Fridman was identified by tracking his screen name to an account held by his mother.Fridman apparently downloaded the nude images on all four computers in his home as well as to a computer at work at a Bedford firm.Fridman remains held at the Middleton Jail. If he posts the $75,000 cash bail he would be on pretrial conditions which include that he continue to live with his parents on Priscilla Road, be on 24-hour house arrest, monitored by an ankle bracelet only to leave for medical, court or attorney appointments. He is not to use any computer or have any unsupervised visits with children until his case is resolved.Fridman is also expected to face more charges in Virginia in connection with the case.Assistant District Attorney Jean M. Curran is the prosecuting attorney and Kevin M. Mitchell is the defense lawyer.