Woonsocket sex offender sentenced in child pornography case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A Woonsocket man who pleaded guilty to having thousands of images and hundreds of videos of child pornography has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison.

Matthew S. Hathaway, 26, pleaded guilty to the charges January 4 and was sentenced Tuesday in Providence U.S. District Court.

Rhode Island State Police were alerted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an IP address originating from a Woonsocket residence had been used to download and transfer child pornography.

On March 16, 2023, a RISP task force executed a court-authorized warrant on Hathaway’s home and seized a cell phone and laptop belonging to Hathaway.

A forensic audit of the devices by Homeland Security Investigations showed they contained 7,984 images and 192 videos of child sexual abuse material.