A Peabody man pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Boston to possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Patrick Lynch, 24, will be sentenced in September.
Beginning in 2013, Lynch began receiving emails containing images and videos of children as young as one year old being sexually exploited. On Dec. 12, 2014, during the execution of a search warrant at his residence, Lynch admitted to law enforcement officers that he received emails containing pictures of elementary school-aged children naked, posing and engaging in sexual acts. He admitted to viewing images of child pornography on a website and to viewing child pornography on his laptop while at a Boy Scout camp in New Mexico.
Lynch also communicated online with children and exchanged sexually explicit images. Prior to law enforcement executing the search warrant, Lynch deleted the application and cleared his phone’s Internet history.
A further investigation revealed that Lynch had been employed at the Greater Beverly YMCA, and had recently begun employment with Beanstalk Adventure Ropes Course in Reading.
He faces up to 40 years in prison and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.
