A 51-year-old Folsom man has pleaded guilty in federal court to receipt of child sexual abuse material after investigators discovered more than 10,000 illicit files stored across multiple electronic devices, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced Thursday that Paul Joseph Richards entered the guilty plea in Sacramento in a federal case stemming from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Folsom Police Department.
According to court documents, from December 2023 through April 2025, Richards used the peer-to-peer file-sharing platform BitTorrent to access and download large quantities of pornography, including more than 10,000 files containing child sexual abuse material, commonly referred to as CSAM.
When law enforcement executed a search warrant on Richards’ devices, investigators reportedly discovered the material on a desktop computer, an external hard drive attached to the computer and Richards’ iPhone.
Federal prosecutors said Richards later admitted to downloading and viewing the files during an interview with investigators and described portions of the content to law enforcement authorities.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Harman. Richards is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 27 before U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta.
Federal officials said Richards faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Any final sentence, however, will be determined by the court after consideration of federal sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The investigation was conducted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2006 to combat child exploitation and abuse through coordinated federal, state and local law enforcement efforts aimed at locating, apprehending and prosecuting individuals who sexually exploit children, while also helping identify and rescue victims.
Additional information about Project Safe Childhood and internet safety education resources is available through the U.S. Department of Justice atProject Safe Childhood.
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