Canton Man Accused of Possessing Child Pornography Due Back in Court April 9

A Canton man accused of possessing child pornography is due back in court April 9.

Stephen Avery, 27, of 21 Bristol Drive was arrested on by state police March 15 and charged with first-degree possession of child pornography, obscenity and promoting a minor in an obscene performance. The charge was originally third-degree possession of child pornography, but police increased the charges after talking to Avery and executing a search warrant, the court documents state. 

State police originally were investigating child pornographic video sharing through a Ares P2P file sharing network, according to court documents. On Oct. 2, 2012, they identified a video of a forced sexual encounter between an adult male and pre-pubescent female, state police state in court records. 

The internet account used to view the video came back to a family member's name, according to the court documents.  

State police began watching the house and obtained a search warrant, according to court documents. They searched the house on Jan. 10 and spoke to Stephen Avery, 28, who answered the door. In the warrant, police state that he backed away to leave the room when he learned they were police and a state trooper questioned him in the vehicle. She showed him a screen grab of the video police found downloaded on the internet account, but he denied ever seeing it, the warrant states.

During a polygraph test at the Canton Police Department, Avery admitted to watching child porn, but denied having any sexual contact with anyone underage, police state in the warrant.  

In the warrant, state police allege they found 250 images and videos of apparent child pornography on an IBM computer seized from the home. The Ares file sharing program was installed on the computer and contained pornographic files of young females under 12 years old, police state in the warrant.

Avery’s attorney James J. Schultz of New Britain said the case is not as it seems and said his client “pushed the wrong button on his computer” months before the arrest. 

“The charges appear much worse than any transgression on his part,” Schultz said, adding that his client has no criminal record. 

"Any activities on his computer had ceased months ago," Schultz added. 

According to the warant, Avery gave state police a statement that he had clicked on something that had taken him to a child pornography video, would view such images a couple times a week but would never touch a child or hurt anyone.

He told police he was sorry and wanted help for the problem, according to the warrant. 

The images had been deleted but police recovered from the recycle bin and deleted folders, according to the warrant. 

Avery posted the $75,000 bond at Hartford Superior Court on the condition that he wore electronic monitoring and remained under house arrest 24/7 except for court or medical emergencies.

He is due back in Hartford Superior Court on April 9.