Veterans Affairs Medical Center Employee Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

BOSTON – A Royalston man was arrested yesterday on child pornography charges.

Kevin Divoll, 51, was charged with one count of possession of child pornography. Following an initial appearance yesterday in federal court in Springfield before U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni, Divoll was detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for Aug. 9, 2022.

According to the charging document, investigators identified the IP address of a device distributing child pornography through peer-to-peer communications and determined the device was using the public Wi-Fi at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Leeds. Further investigation identified that Divoll, an employee at the VA Medical Center, as the owner and user of the device. It is alleged that during a search of Divoll’s residence yesterday, a laptop, external hard drive and cellphone were found to contain child pornography including images of toddler-aged children. 

The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Christopher Algieri, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, Northeast Field Office; and Andrew Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Boston Field Office made the announcement. Assistance was provided by the Leeds VA Medical Center Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine G. Curley of Rollins’ Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the DOJ’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.