BY ROD HANSEN

A man who allegedly trekked from Massachusetts to Goffstown to have sexual relations with a local child faces up to 30 years in prison for the charge.

Frank Emery, 23, of Stoneham, Mass., was arraigned May 10 in United States District Court in Concord on a charge of traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity with a child.

Linda Tomlinson, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono, said the child met Emery over the Internet. Tomlinson declined to give any further specifics because the case is pending trial.

Emery’s trial is scheduled for July 10 in U.S. District Court, where he faces a maximum prison sentence of 30 years to be followed by a period of supervised release that could last the duration of his life.

The case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.

Tomlinson compared unsupervised use of Internet chat rooms to the popularity of online gambling.

“A good analogy for parents is to think of the sites where you can go and play a real game of blackjack, where they take money out of your bank account. It’s like setting up a casino in the privacy of your own home.

“When you let your children use the Internet unsupervised, it’s like inviting a child predator into your home to come visit your child. Not physically, but they’re in there talking with your child.

And the predators are very sympathetic. They engage their victim and become close, like a friend, and then they say, ‘Would you like to meet in real life?’ That’s when it becomes dangerous,” Tomlinson said.

Another recent case brought under Project Safe Childhood also had a local connection.

In an investigation that began with the Bedford Police Department, Michael Sosnowski of Manchester admitted to possessing images of child pornography. A subsequent FBI search of Sosnowski’s computer and computer discs revealed photographs and films of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Sosnowski pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court on Jan. 23.
The prosecution in the Emery case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Helen White Fitzgibbon with assistance from the Goffstown Police Department and the FBI.