Former Amherst man arraigned on child porn charges

Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton.

Hampshire County Courthouse in Northampton. FILE PHOTO

By JAMES PENTLAND

Staff Writer

Published: 03-06-2024 1:52 PM

NORTHAMPTON — A former Amherst man and University of Massachusetts graduate was arraigned Tuesday in Hampshire Superior Court on 11 counts related to possessing and sharing child pornography.

Bradley Driscoll, 25, of West Roxbury, represented by attorney William O’Neil, entered not-guilty pleas to the charges and was released on conditions previously imposed in a similar case in federal court.

The conditions, agreed to by Judge Edward McDonough, include that he surrender his passport, that he not travel outside Massachusetts without permission of his probation officer, and that he have no contact with children under the age of 17.

He was indicted Dec. 21 by a Hampshire County grand jury.

According to court documents, FBI agents and Amherst police officers executed a search warrant at Driscoll’s former residence in Amherst in February 2023. An FBI agent had begun communicating online with him and Driscoll allegedly sent the agent a link to an account containing material depicting child sexual abuse.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited also had issued a cybertip reporting the sharing of child porn from a computer account that was traced to Driscoll, court documents state.

The charges are felonies carrying penalties of 10 to 20 years in prison and fines ranging from $10,000 to $50,000.

Driscoll graduated from UMass in 2020 and had worked in the university’s neuroscience laboratory, according to court filings.

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His next appearance in Superior Court was set for May 28.

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.