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Thomas Cross, of Amesbury, pleaded guilty on Friday, Aug. 18, to one count each of distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, the US Attorney for Massachusetts said on Monday.
Police arrested Cross in 2018 after they searched his home and found several electronic devices that contained child sexual abuse material, officials said. They also discovered chat logs between Cross and a woman named Desiree Daigle, where she sent him sexual photos of an infant girl she was babysitting. She was sexually abusing the girl in some of the images.
The two discussed how they would meet up and abuse the child together, officials said.
Daigle, 26, of Salisbury, was later arrested and sentenced to 17 years in prison last year for the sexual exploitation of children, the US Attorney's Office said.
After Cross was arrested in 2018, and a judge released him on bail in 2019. A condition of his release was that he had to stay off the internet, but in June 2020, investigators found he was again exchanging child porn on social media, prosecutors said.
Police also found he had multiple cell phones and an internet-connected gaming console, all violations of his release. He returned to federal custody, where he's remained ever since.
Cross faces a minimum of five years in prison and could face decades behind bars, sentencing guidelines say.
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