NORTHAMPTON — An employee of the Edward P. Boland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds was arrested on Thursday and is being charged with uploading and downloading child pornography via the facility’s free public Wi-Fi.

Kevin Divoll, 51, of Royalston, is being charged with one count of possession of child pornography. During an initial appearance in federal court in Springfield, he was ordered held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

According to the office of U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins of Massachusetts, on May 29, “investigators identified the IP address of a device distributing child pornography through peer-to-peer communications and determined the device was using the public Wi-Fi at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Leeds.”

Investigators interviewed Divoll and he provided the password for his laptop, which allegedly contained illegal images of children.

“It is alleged that during a search of Divoll’s residence (on Thursday), a laptop, external hard drive and cellphone were found to contain child pornography including images of toddler-aged children,” Rollins’ office wrote in a news release.

According to a criminal complaint filed in court, investigators located “hundreds of pictures and video files containing child pornography” on Divoll’s devices.

Prosecutors did not immediately specify Divoll’s position at the VA.

Divoll faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, at least five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine G. Curley of Rollins’ Springfield office is prosecuting the case.

Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.

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