CONCORD, NH – The Nashua man accused of making plans to abduct a child while he shared child sex abuse images with two other men is going to prison for the next 25 years.
Chad Francisco, 32, formerly of Bridge Street, was arrested in 2017 after he started sharing photos of his wife with a Salem, Massachusetts man David R. Holland, according to the complaint filed in court. The relationship between Francisco and Holland spiraled out of control and within days Francisco reportedly started sharing graphic nude and sexually explicit images and videos of two young children in his care with Holland and Jonathan Bristow, a New Hampton man, according to court records.
“I realize that my actions were terrible,” Francisco said.
Salem Police Sgt. Kristin Hanson testified in court that Holland and Francisco exchanged “extremely” graphic text messages in which they described what they would do with the girls in the photos, according to a report in the Salem News. Holland received a state prison sentence of up to seven years, according to the Associated Press.
Francisco and Holland also discussed a plan to introduce Holland to an 8-year-old child at a football game, and of slipping something into her juice to make her sleepy, Hanson testified. They also discussed the idea of looking for a girl in a park if that plan did not work out, Hanson testified, according to the Salem News.
The images were also shared with Jonathan Bristow, a New Hampton man. Bristow was indicted in 2017 on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse images and later convicted and sentenced to up to10 years in state prison, according to the Laconia Daily Sun.
Assistant United States Attorney Kasey Weiland and defense attorney Behzad Mirhashem both agreed that Francisco ought to serve 25-years in prison. Weiland said Francisco has been cooperative with police since his arrest, and expressed remorse. He agreed to enter into the agreement in order to spare his family a lengthy trial, she said.
Mirhashem said his client has no adult criminal record, and was himself a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
“His own sexual abuse as a child that unfortunately went unaddressed,” Mirhashem said.
United States District Court Judge Joseph Laplante called Francisco’s actions intolerable as he agreed to send him to prison for the next quarter-century.
Francisco and Holland connected via a classified ad on Craigslist, according to court records. The sharing arrangement soon devolved into the two men sharing nude photos of their wives. The women involved reportedly did not know about the sharing arrangement.
Francisco and Holland then began sharing photos of children via text message. The images depicted children in the nude and were sexually abusive in nature, according to court records. The child sex abuse image sharing was discovered when Francisco’s wife checked his phone.
Investigators found numerous child sex abuse images shared between Francisco, Holland, and Bristow, according to records connected to Holland’s arrest.
Holland was arrested in Salem, Mass., after Nashua officers alerted police in Massachusetts about the alleged crimes. When police first went to Holland’s home, he allegedly attacked one of the detectives with a knife. Holland initially shouted for police to shoot him, according to court records.
Holland had been serving as the Salem, Mass., recycling coordinator at the time of his arrest.
