A Plymouth health care consultant was among more than 50 people arrested across Massachusetts this week, accused of exploiting children, including by having, creating, or sharing child pornography.
Keith Cheverie, 39, who describes himself online as a health care insurance expert, pleaded not guilty November 4 to one count of possessing and one count of distributing child pornography.
Plymouth District Court Judge Benjamin Barnes ordered him held in the Plymouth County Correctional Facility on $10,000 cash bail, according to court records.
After making bail, he was released subject to several conditions. The judge ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet and comply with an 8 p.m. curfew.
He is due back in court on December 1, according to court records.
Cheverie was one of 56 defendants arrested in Operation Firewall, described by state police as a “massive child exploitation sting.” (You can find a list of those arrested at the end of this story.)
Defendants in eight other communities were charged with a host of crimes, including child enticement, failure to register as a sex offender, as well as rape and/or assault and battery on a child, according to state police, who on Monday announced the results of the three-day operation.
“We arrested successful businesspeople, homeowners, spouses, and parents of children,” said State Police Lt. Col. Daniel Tucker, commander of the department’s division of investigative services said.
If convicted, Cheverie, who could not be reached for comment, faces the possibility of a long prison sentence. Disseminating child pornography is a felony that carries a sentence of between 10 and 20 years in prison.
According to court records, state police from the Cyber Crime Unit/Internet Crimes against Children Task Force—obtained a warrant to search an online account traced to Cheverie.
In the account, police discovered a photo of a naked young girl with a butterfly painted across her face. She was looking at the camera in a “lascivious” manner, according to the state police report.
They also reported finding a video of another young girl in a green sweatshirt, naked from the waist down, also looking at the camera lasciviously.
The police also found a message in a group chat that appeared to be from Cheverie letting other know that he trades “teen girl vids.”
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.