NORTHAMPTON — Judge David Hodge sentenced Aleksandr Hobbie, 24, of Easthampton, to four to five years in state prison followed by supervised probation for eight years after he pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child sexual abuse images and videos and possessing drugs in Hampshire Superior Court.
Hobbie pleaded guilty on April 23 to three counts of possession of child pornography, one count of possession of a class A substance and 10 counts of dissemination of child pornography. These charges will require Hobbie to register as a sex offender.
Easthampton Police began investigating Hobbie after the department received a cybertip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the possible upload of child sexual abuse material to a “suspect Google account.”
In a joint effort between Easthampton, Northampton and State Police, law enforcement executed a search warrant at the residence linked to Hobbie’s device. The search unveiled that Hobbie was in possession of more than 4,000 images and videos containing child sexual abuse material, which Hobbie had disseminated to more than 300 people through a messaging app found on his phone.
Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Jimenez prosecuted the case on behalf of the commonwealth. Victim Witness Advocate Sonia Serrazina provided support. The sentence was jointly recommended by the commonwealth and defense counsel, attorney Anthony Maddaleni of the Committee for Public Counsel Services.
“The exploitation of children is a profound harm, and once these images are shared online, the damage cannot be undone,” Jimenez said in a written statement. “This sentence reflects the seriousness of these offenses and our ongoing commitment to protecting children and holding offenders accountable.”
Following his state prison sentence, Hobbie will be placed on supervised probation for eight years. He will be required to participate in and complete a sex offender evaluation and recommended treatment, have no unsupervised contact with children younger than 18 years of age, not live with or have overnight stays with minors, comply with the Sex Offender Registry Board, submit to random drug and alcohol testing and submit to random searches of all digital devices.
