Crime & Safety
Lempster Teen Arrested On Child Sexual Abuse Images Charges
NH State Police seek info about Christopher Ferland, a school custodian; they believe he had limited, unsupervised contact with children.
KEENE, NH — The New Hampshire State Police are asking the public for any information about the activities of a teen accused of possession of child pornography.
Christopher Ferland, 19, of Unity Springs Road in Lempster was arrested Friday on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images, all felonies. Sgt. Michael McLaughlin of Troop C said officials made the arrest after executing a search warrant at his home.
The investigation began after officials received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children "which indicated the illegal use of computers and alleged possession and/or distribution of sexual abuse images of prepubescent children from within this residence," he said.
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McLaughlin said Saturday investigators with the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force expect "additional charges" pending "the forensic analysis of the digital evidence seized during this investigation." Ferland, according to his Facebook page, was a custodian at the Lempster Community School but investigators believe he "has only had very limited unsupervised in-person exposure to children," McLaughlin said.
"We asking the public to report any odd or suspicious behaviors that they may have observed regarding Mr. Ferland," he added.
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Ferland is being held in the county jail and is expected to be arraigned in Sullivan County Superior Court on Monday.
McLaughlin said state police, the Sullivan, Cheshire and Grafton county sheriff's office, along with assistance from the Lempster Fire Department and Newport Police Department, were involved in the case.
Jim Lewis, the school superintendent of SAU 71, has been emailed for comment about the case.
Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the New Hampshire State Police and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.
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