A Massachusetts man who had already pleaded guilty in state court to child pornography charges has now been arrested by the feds and charged with the sexual abuse of a toddler known to him and producing images of that abuse.

Ethan Irving, 36, who was living in Plainville at the time of the alleged abuse and is now listed by federal prosecutors as living in Norfolk, was arrested and charged earlier this week with one count of sexual exploitation of children. He appeared in federal court in Boston on Thursday where he was appointed a public defender and ordered detained ahead of trial.

Irving was caught when the State Police got a tip on May 29, 2025, from the smartphone messaging company Kik, which reported that three files shared on its platform appeared to be child pornography, according to a law enforcement affidavit supporting the charge.

A Plainville PD detective the following month reviewed at least one of the images and confirmed the suspicion. The department applied for and got search warrants for Irving’s home and vehicle, according to the affidavit. The department executed those warrants that July and found child sexual abuse materials stored within his instance of the encrypted messaging platform Session. He was brought up on state charges and pleaded guilty to charges of both possession and dissemination of the materials.

Police reviewed the content of Irving’s phones last month after the state case and found suspected child pornography not previously seen. The images were forwarded to the FBI.

The five images are briefly summarized in heavily redacted form in the affidavit and allegedly depict Irving himself engaged in sexual contact with a female two year old who is a part of Irving’s daily life.

‘Hello? This is the police’

The Boston Police Department is warning people that calls in which scammers impersonate police in order to demand money are on the rise.

“In these scams, callers often claim there is a warrant for your arrest, threaten jail time, or state that immediate payment is required to resolve an issue such as missed jury duty,” the BPD notice stated. “Scammers may provide fake case numbers, badge numbers, or other credentials to appear legitimate. They may also use the names of real law enforcement officers or spoof official phone numbers so the call appears to come from a legitimate agency.”

The police say that law enforcement and government agencies never demand immediate payments over the phone and would certainly not ask for payment through gift cards, cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or gold.

If you have been scammed, you should file a police report at your local police station and can also report the scams to the Federal Trade Commission and IdentityTheft.gov.

Incident Summary

BPD responded to 255 incidents in the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. Thursday, according to the department’s incident log. Those included three aggravated assaults, one commercial burglary, one residential burglary, two thefts from vehicles, two vehicle thefts, and 11 instances of miscellaneous larceny.

In the next period, ending 10 a.m. Friday, BPD responded to 183 incidents including two aggravated assaults, a residential burglary, and 14 instances of miscellaneous larceny.

Arrests

All of the below-named defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

— Chanel Ashley, 61 Milton Ave., Dorchester. Operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

— Reginald Roscoe, 5 Popes Hill St., Dorchester. Distributing Class B drugs.

— Salih Mehamed, 64 Lawrence Ave., Dorchester. Shoplifting more than $100.

— Jose Rosa Laureano, 73 Maywood St., Roxbury. Two charges: Shoplifting more than $250 and shoplifting more than $100.

— Quton Parker, 440 Tremont St., Boston. Larceny from a person.

— Luis Andino Iozano, 227 West Broadway, Boston. Trespassing.

— Amanda Suprenant, 1506 Gorham St., Lowell. Trespassing.

— Laura Collins, 899 Harrison Ave., Boston. Shoplifting more than $100.

— Donte Golding, 1430 Blue Hill Ave., Distributing Class B drugs.

— Antonio Murcia, no address listed. Possession of Class B drugs.

— Brian Lopez, 61 Van Norden Road, Reading. Larceny less than $1,200.

— Camryn Guillaume, no address listed. External warrant arrest.

— Andres Diaz, 409 Walnut Ave., Jamaica Plain. Assault.

— Benjamin Smestad, 38 Broad St., Quincy. Shoplifting more than $100.

— Michael Johnson, 10 Gibson St., Boston. Reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

— Jerry Matos, 9 Horan Way, Jamaica Plain. External warrant arrest.

— Desmond Brown, 136 Hazleton St., Mattapan. External warrant arrest.

— Ladell Smith, 200 Hancock St., Dorchester. Shoplifting more than $100.

— Nicole Crewe, 270 Somerville Ave., Somerville. Warrant arrest.

— Jose Avendano, 157 Andover St., Lawrence. Operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

— Anastasia Beckley, 889 Harrison Ave., Roxbury. Shoplifting.

— Devon White, 82 Vinedale Road, Braintree. External warrant arrest.

— Mohammed Momin, 3110 Washington St., Jamaica Plain. Larceny less than $250.