Daniel Tocci of Amherst was sentenced on Mar. 30 to four years in federal prison for possessing more than 100,000 files containing sexual abuse material involving minors. U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni handed down the sentence in Springfield, Massachusetts, with an additional five years of supervised release after Tocci’s prison term.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by law enforcement to address crimes involving child sexual exploitation and disturbing violent content. The government had recommended a sentence of nearly six years.
According to court records, investigators searched Tocci’s residence in November 2023 and found over 100,000 images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of minors stored on thumb drives and his laptop. More than 10,000 additional files were discovered on his laptop alone. Some materials depicted sadistic or masochistic conduct or involved toddlers being exploited sexually.
Tocci’s devices also contained extremely graphic images unrelated to child exploitation, including acts of violence against animals and humans—such as a cat killed in a blender, a dog beaten to death, severed limbs, and bestiality imagery—as well as Google searches related to child sexual abuse.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said the announcement was made with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Boston Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, and the Amherst Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood—a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 that coordinates federal, state, and local resources to combat child exploitation crimes and rescue victims.