Mason Lister was arrested in 2020 after police found he had traded sexual images of children as young as toddlers through social media, the Department of Justice said. Authorities raided his home and found a tablet with 85 pictures and videos of child pornography, prosecutors said.
Lister pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography last month, and a judge sentenced him to 10 years in federal prison last week, U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
This is his third conviction of possessing child porn but his first in federal court.
“My office has a responsibility to ensure the safety of our communities, especially that of our most vulnerable – children. Mr. Lister is a recidivist offender, a three-time convicted felon, who will now thankfully remain out of our communities and away from our children for the next decade,” said U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins in a statement.
Arlington police arrested Lister in 2016 on child porn charges when he worked at a daycare in Newton, CBS Boston said then. Investigators said he sent the images and videos through Dropbox, Kik, and Twitter.
The daycare said he never had contact with the children, and none came forward to allege any abuse, the news station said. His mother was the assistant executive director at the facility at the time.
A year later, police again arrested Lester on child pornography charges, CBS Boston said then. Investigators said he was sending images through the social media app Skout.com.
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