BANGOR, Maine — A Stockholm man who was charged last year with several state and federal sex crimes pleaded guilty to the federal offenses against him last week in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
Benjamin Rossignol, 21, appeared in court May 8 with his attorney, Stephen Smith of Bangor, to answer to charges stemming from his sexual assault of a 1-month-old girl and posting graphic pictures of the infant online, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Lowell said Thursday.
A sentencing date on the federal charges of transportation of child pornography and possession of child pornography has not been set. Lowell said that a pre-sentencing report must first be completed to outline Rossignol’s criminal history, the impact his crimes had on the victim, and his physical and mental health history.
After Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit investigators discovered that Rossignol had posted the graphic photos of the baby online, he was taken into custody on Nov. 8, 2013, at his home in Stockholm, about 20 miles north of Caribou.
He was charged with and still faces state charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, dissemination of sexually explicit material, unlawful sexual contact and possession of sexually explicit materials.
He was indicted on the federal charges in March.
Unable to post $10,000 bail, Rossignol has been held since November at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.
Typically, whenever there are state and federal charges based on the same case, the federal charges, which carry the higher penalties, are handled first.
