Fall River Woman Allegedly Gave Child Porn to Malden Man

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include the fact that Cyr's trial is pending, so the accusations against her have not been proven.

It has also been updated to include where Weddington is from and where he was arrested. 

BOSTON — A Malden man was sentenced on Tuesday for receiving child pornography, including images of an infant — images that were allegedly given to him by a Fall River woman.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated in a release that 51-year-old Paul Weddington will serve 12 years in prison and five years on probation after pleading guilty to receiving child pornography earlier this year.

Weddington's role was discovered in an investigation of cell phones belonging to Fall River woman Nichole Cyr, who was arrested in November 2020 for child exploitation.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office said Cyr's case is pending trial.

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Cyr was charged with allegedly producing images and videos of child sexual abuse after the material was found on her cell phones.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, further analysis of her phones found that she had allegedly sent Weddington child pornography depicting two children aged two and seven years old.

She knows the children, the office noted.

Authorities seized Weddington's phone during a February 2021 search of his home following the investigation into Cyr.

His phone contained screenshots that were apparently from a video chat with Cyr allegedly depicting sexual abuse of the two-year-old, according to the office.

Weddington pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography on March 9.

The U.S. Attorney's Office spokesperson clarified that Weddington, previously only described as being from Massachusetts, has recently changed his address to Malden.

He was arrested while living in Georgia and had previously lived in the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan.

Fall River Police Chief Paul Gauvin announced the sentence along with U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins and Matthew Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston.

A release from the Fall River Police Department on Wednesday morning noted that Fall River Detective Nicholas Custadio played "a key role" in the multi-agency investigation.