Ex-Waltham Officer Convicted Of Child Porn Possession Dies

WALTHAM, MA — Paul Manganelli, a former Waltham police officer who was convicted of possessing child pornography, died March 30. He was 54.

He died from complications of COVID-19 at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, according to his obituary.

In 2011, Manganelli made headlines for winning a $1 million prize in the Massachusetts Lottery's "$100,000 A Year For Life" game. Two years later, the police officer — who also ran a disc jockey company that played at children's parties— was arrested, lost his job and pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

The Waltham native, who was found with hundreds of images of young girls, initially told the FBI he was attempting to identify online sexual predators. However, he was never assigned nor authorized by the Waltham Police Department to conduct such investigations, nor did he ever report any criminal conduct he observed, authorities said at the time.

The former police officer was sentenced to five years in federal prison. He was released on Dec. 4, 2018.

During his sentencing, Manganelli called the FBI agent who compiled the evidence that led to his arrest a "saving angel," saying he had been in a dark place until "[the agent] came along and stopped me and I thank God that he stopped me," Wicked Local reported at the time.

Manganelli's 2013 arrest shocked the city, already reeling from news that the police chief at the time was facing domestic abuse charges. Mayor Jeanette McCarthy pledged to help win back the public's trust for the police department.