The United States Courthouse in Gualo Rai, Saipan.
ALTHOUGH Vincent Masga Songsong has pled not guilty to the charge of possession of child pornography, he previously admitted to a U.S. probation officer that he was viewing pornographic materials of young girls between the ages of 9 and 17 years old.
According to the application for a search warrant by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Richard J. Bauer on June 27, 2023, which was made available in the federal court dockets on Friday, he requested an order authorizing the examination of a cell phone device owned by Songsong, and the extraction of electronically stored information in the same device, which was then in the possession of the U.S Probation Office.
On Dec. 3, 2015, Songsong, a resident of Rota, was convicted of possession of child pornography and was sentenced by the federal court to 78 months or six years and six months in prison.
He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 restitution to one of the victims and to register as a sex offender.
Songsong pled guilty to possessing “a laptop computer that contained 226 videos involving the use of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct.”
Home visit
Bauer said on June 22, 2023. U.S. Probation Officer Gregory Arriola conducted an unscheduled home visit at Songsong’s residence in Sinapalo, pursuant to the terms of Songsong’s supervised release.
“At Songsong’s residence, Officer Arriola encountered Songsong’s mother, who stated that Songsong was at work [at] a produce company in Rota. Songsong’s mother informed Officer Arriola that Songsong has a personal cellular phone that Songsong uses daily, that Songsong takes the phone to work with him, and that Songsong is on his phone at home for approximately two hours per day,” Bauer said.
He said this information was concerning to Arriola because Songsong previously informed Arriola that his cell phone was no longer charged and that Songsong no longer used it.
At Songsong’s place of employment, his employer pointed Arriola to Songsong’s location in the back of a warehouse. Upon recognizing Arriola, Songsong placed an object on the back of a shelf. Arriola suspected that Songsong was attempting to conceal the object, Bauer said.
When questioned about the object, Songsong stated it was his new cellular phone that he had had for approximately one month.
Arriola advised Songsong that as a condition of his supervised release, Songsong was required to notify Arriola anytime Songsong came to possess a new device, such as a phone.
Arriola then informed Songsong that a manual search of Songsong’s phone would be necessary.
Before handing his phone to Arriola, Songsong’s hands were shaking and Songsong showed signs of obvious nervousness, Bauer said.
“Officer Arriola observed Songsong access a folder in the phone and attempted to delete items prior to handing the phone to Officer Arriola. At this point. Officer Arriola took the phone from Songsong. When Officer Arriola asked why Songsong was behaving oddly, Songsong stated there was pornography on the phone,” Bauer added.
When asked what else was on the phone, Songsong stated, “The same thing as my case.”
Arriola asked Songsong if there was child pornography on the phone, and Songsong answered in the affirmative, Bauer said.
Songsong then asked Arriola to delete the files on his phone and not report the incident because he “would pick up a new charge” and “go away for a long time.”
Songsong said he was able to access the material by clicking on pop-up windows that appeared on adult pornographic websites.
“Songsong further admitted…that he was viewing pornographic material of young girls between the ages of 9-17 years old,” Bauer said.
Arriola placed the phone in airplane mode, turned the power off, secured the phone and transported it with him to the U.S. Probation Office on Saipan.
Detention hearing
The detention hearing scheduled for March 18, 2024, was vacated after Songsong, through his court-appointed attorney Joe McDoulett, waived the right for a detention hearing.
This prompted District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona to grant Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric O’Malley’s motion to detain Songsong while awaiting trial.
Judge Manglona scheduled Songsong’s jury trial for May 14, 2024, at 10 a.m.
