By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
December 17, 2009 06:00 am
—
SWAMPSCOTT — A Swampscott man is now serving a 15-year prison term in Virginia after pleading guilty to child pornography and other charges.
Alexander Fridman, 33, was living with his elderly parents at 12 Priscilla Road until his arrest in November 2007, following an online child sex sting operation based in Virginia.
Police here found more than 1,000 images of child pornography on Fridman's computer after his arrest, and he was subsequently indicted by an Essex County grand jury.
But Fridman was also charged by prosecutors in two counties in Virginia, where an officer posing as a 13-year-old boy named "David" received numerous sexually explicit images, allegedly from Fridman, who was also allegedly trying to arrange a meeting with the child.
In fact, "David" was actually Dumfries, Va., police officer John Chapman, who has conducted a number of online stings that have snared men around the country.
In May, Fridman, who has been in custody since his arrest, was sent to Virginia under an interstate agreement, and three months later, he pleaded guilty to the first set of indictments.
Stafford County prosecutors had charged Fridman there with using electronic means to procure minors, attempted indecent liberties with a minor and reproducing or disseminating child pornography.
He received a total of 15 years in prison in that case, according to the office of the Stafford County commonwealth's attorney.
Fridman is still facing 10 additional child pornography charges in Prince William County, Va., where he is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18.
He will then be returned to Massachusetts under the same interstate agreement to face his charges here.
Yesterday, during a brief hearing in Salem Superior Court, prosecutor Jean Curran and defense lawyer Kevin Mitchell agreed to delay the next hearing in the case until April 1, when they will report back to a judge on the status of the Virginia cases.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.