A man who worked in Cambridge’s transportation department has been convicted after a two-day trial in federal court in Boston of possession and receipt of child pornography and sexual exploitation of children, the office of acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said Wednesday.
Patrick Baxter, 44, of Acton, was convicted of one count of possession of child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of sexual exploitation of children. U.S. District Court judge Allison Burroughs scheduled sentencing for Jan. 8. (Update on Jan. 8. 2025: Baxter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, according to a press release from Levy’s office.)
Baxter was arrested and charged Dec. 7, 2022, accused of having downloaded child sexual abuse material from the Internet at least three times in June and July 2021. A computer hard drive seized during a search of Baxter’s home was found to contain more than 425 video files showing prepubescent and pubescent children engaged in sex acts and “the lascivious display of their genitals,” according to a press release.
At the time of his arrest, he was a Melrose resident and an engineer for the city’s Traffic, Parking & Transportation Department. While the term of his release after arrest meant he was technically able to work, he was required to explain the pending charges to his employer and had limitations on “computer use”; one condition was that he could not “access the Internet unless authorized by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services” or possess any computer or other device capable of connecting to the Internet, including tablets, phones, televisions or gaming consoles.
The count of sexual exploitation was added after his initial arrest and alluded to Wednesday by Levy in a press release.
“It is difficult to find the words to capture how abhorrent the defendant’s conduct was, and today a jury agreed. This man exploited a 7-year old victim for his own perverted gratification and thought he could get away with it by hiding behind an encrypted device,” Levy said. “There is no higher priority in this office than protecting children from sexual exploitation, especially at the hands of trusted adults. Mr. Baxter will have many years in prison to reflect on the harm he has inflicted and any other individual tempted to sexually exploit minors should take notice that you will be held accountable.”
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