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Fairfield County resident Christopher Bates, Jr. of Greenwich was sentenced on Tuesday, May 28 to 24 months in prison for possessing images and videos of the sexual abuse of children, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced.
According to federal officials, Bates, an attorney licensed to practice in Connecticut and New York, was arrested after an international law investigation revealed an IP address at his residence was being used to access the dark web to view child pornography.
On Nov. 30, 2022, Homeland Security Investigations agents interviewed Bates and searched his electronic devices, finding around 1,222 images and two videos depicting sexual abuse of children and infants on one of his laptops.
He was later arrested on Dec. 13, 2022, and pleaded guilty to possessing and accessing with intent to view child pornography on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
In addition to his sentence, Bates will also have to serve five years of supervised release and must pay restitution of $15,000. Additionally, he will be required to pay $17,000 to fund the Child Pornography Victims Reserve fund and another assessment of $5,100.
Bates is now released on a $300,000 bond until he reports to prison on Thursday, July 11.
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