Man who lived at Mass. daycare site facing child porn charges

Authorities arrested a West Bridgewater man Wednesday morning who rented a room in the same building as a residential daycare and accused him of receiving child pornography while living there, according to court documents. 

Juan Levano, 23, faces one count of receipt of child pornography. 

Law enforcement officials narrowed in on Levano through the use of an online chat app, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. The app, which is unnamed in the complaint, allows users to have encrypted one-on-one chats or group chats. The app is often used for illegal activities including the exchange of child pornography due to the “high degree of anonymity” it offers. 

In November, officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security working in South Africa assisted local police in the arrest of a South African national for the possession and distribution of child pornography. That person agreed to let authorities assume his identity on the app. He was involved in two large-scale chats where child pornography was exchanged, according to the complaint. 

Agents tracked the IP address of one user to West Bridgewater. Through a review of records they found that the address contained a registered and certified home daycare for children, and that Levano lived there, Geoffrey Paige, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, wrote in the complaint. Levano’s address was listed as 15 Brooks Place.

Authorities executed search warrants at the property just after 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Levano was not initially present, but arrived soon after. He agreed to speak with agents, and told them that he rented a room on the property but did not work at the daycare or have contact with the children who attended it. This was confirmed by the owner of the property, Paige wrote. 

Levano said he downloaded the app after receiving a message on Facebook from an unknown person that contained a link for the app. He estimated that he began using the app in May. Levano told agents that he was part of about 10 group chats on the app and that he had saved files containing child pornography from the app to his iPhone, according to the complaint. 

Agents reviewed an iPhone that Levano had on him. They identified about 100 different conversations that Levano was a part of. The conversations had titles that referenced terms for children in Spanish or included the letters “CP,” Paige wrote. 

Authorities searched the images saved to the iPhone. They found “approximately 109 videos and four images in a hidden album, many of which appear to depict child pornography.” The files “appeared to depict prepubescent females and males, ranging in age from approximately six to 12 years old,” Paige wrote. The complaint contains graphic descriptions of some of the files. 

Levano remains in federal custody following an initial appearance in federal court in Boston.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com