CONCORD, NH – A Nashua man who allegedly made plans to abduct a child while he shared child sex abuse images with at least one other man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the United States District Court in Concord.
Chad Francisco, 31, formerly of Bridge Street, Nashua, was arrested in 2018 after he started sharing photos of his wife with a Salem, Mass., man last year, David R. Holland, according to the complaint filed in court.
“Those who exploit a child in order to create child pornography subject their victim to trauma that may have enduring consequences throughout the child’s lifetime,” said U.S. Attorney Scott Murray in a statement released Tuesday. “We work closely with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who harm children by manufacturing child pornography.”
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 of the children were nude and sexually abusive in nature, according to court records. The child sex abuse image sharing was discovered when Francisco’s wife checked his phone, according to court records.
Investigators found numerous chide sex abuse images shared between Francisco, Holland, and a third man in New Hampton, 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, now 42, pleaded guilty in 2018 to multiple charges in a Massachusetts superior court, including dissemination of child sex abuse images. Holland had been the Salem, Mass., recycling coordinator when he was arrested.
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 New Hampshire 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.
Francisco is due to be sentenced in the Concord federal court in February.