Contact: Major Michael J. Winquist, Detective Commander Telephone: (401) 444-1006
Colonel Steven G. O'Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police and Commissioner of Public Safety, announces that at 8:30 a.m., on February 21, 2013, members of the Computer Crimes Unit/Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force arrested a Westerly resident for possession and transfer of child pornography.
Task force members recently initiated an investigation of images of child pornography reportedly being shared on the Internet. In furtherance of this investigation, a court-authorized search warrant was executed at the residence located at 12 Canton Street, Westerly, Rhode Island. Digital images of child pornography were located on a smart phone within the residence. Further investigation identified a male resident as the owner of the smart phone and the person that transferred the illegal images.
The resident is identified as Dana G. Gingerelli, age 20, of 12 Canton Street, Westerly, R.I. Mr. Gingerelli was arrested and transported to the State Police Hope Valley Barracks for processing. He was arraigned before the Honorable Associate Judge Madeline Quirk in 4th Division District Court on charges of Possession of Child Pornography and Transfer of Child Pornography and released on $10,000 personal recognizance with special bail conditions restricting his access to children under the age of 18 and the Internet.
Mr. Gingerelli currently works at the Westerly YMCA and previously worked as an instructor at Camp Harrington, a YMCA organization, located in Boylston, Massachusetts.
Task Force Members will continue the investigation into the source of the images and the identity of the child.
The Rhode Island ICAC Task Force is comprised of members of the Computer Crimes Unit along with detectives from the Coventry Police Department, Warwick Police Department, Pawtucket Police Department, Jamestown Police Department, Woonsocket Police Department, and Richmond Police Department; and special agents from Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) and United States Postal Inspection Services (USPS). The objective of the Task Force is to form strong working relationships among local, state, and federal law enforcement in order to effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute online child exploitation and child pornography crimes. ###