Woonsocket Man Sentenced to 78 Months for Possessing Child Sexual Abuse Material

PROVIDENCE — Joseph R. Fletcher, 41, of Woonsocket, received a 78-month federal prison sentence Thursday for receiving, possessing, and accessing with intent to view child sexual abuse material.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island charged Fletcher under federal statutes that prohibit those specific acts involving CSAM. Fletcher pleaded guilty, and U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy imposed the term along with a requirement that he register as a sex offender. He will also serve three years of supervised release after prison.

The sentence affects Fletcher directly and adds one conviction to the Justice Department’s ongoing enforcement docket targeting individuals who receive and possess CSAM. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines assign base offense levels for these violations that increase with the volume and nature of the material; the final 78-month term reflects those calculations applied to Fletcher’s case.

The operational change is immediate: Fletcher must begin serving the 78-month sentence. Upon release he enters a three-year supervised-release period during which any violation can return him to custody. The sex-offender registration obligation continues for decades under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act and requires Fletcher to provide current photographs, address information, and employment details to law-enforcement authorities in any jurisdiction where he resides, works, or studies.

Downstream, the conviction obligates the U.S. Probation Office to supervise Fletcher for the full three-year term and to enforce conditions that typically bar contact with minors and restrict internet use. The case also feeds data into the National Crime Information Center database, allowing other agencies to track Fletcher’s status.

Federal law further requires the Bureau of Prisons to complete his incarceration before any transfer to a halfway house or home confinement can occur.

This sentencing follows a series of similar federal prosecutions in the District of Rhode Island. The Justice Department has pursued CSAM cases under the same statutes for more than a decade, with penalties that routinely include prison terms measured in years followed by lifetime registration requirements for many offenders. The Woonsocket case is the latest entry in that record.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice press release dated May 8, 2026.