State v. Kenneth G.

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State v. Kenneth G.

STATE OF CONNECTICUT v. KENNETH G.*
(AC 48991)
Alvord, Suarez and Seeley, Js.
Syllabus
Convicted, after a jury trial, of various crimes, including possession of child
pornography in the first degree, the defendant appealed to this court. During
the trial, the state presented, inter alia, evidence of sixty-six thumbnail
images of child pornography that had been found on the defendant’s iPad.
On appeal, the defendant claimed that there was insufficient evidence to
support his conviction of possession of child pornography. Held:
The defendant’s claim that he could not knowingly possess thumbnail images
that were automatically created and stored in a directory inaccessible to
him was unavailing, as the state consistently advanced the theory at trial that
the possession of child pornography charge was based on the defendant’s
constructive possession of the original images, of which the thumbnail
images served as evidence, and not the thumbnail images themselves.
The evidence reasonably supported the jury’s determination that the state
proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knowingly possessed
the original images of child pornography, as, viewing the evidence in the
light most favorable to sustaining the verdict, there was sufficient evidence
to establish that the defendant transferred, viewed, and later deleted the
original images of child pornography, and the jury could have inferred that
the images were not downloaded inadvertently or by mistake and that the
defendant was aware of their existence on the basis of evidence that the
defendant was familiar with nude and sexually suggestive photos of children
and how to search for and store such material on his electronic devices.
Argued October 8, 2025—officially released January 6, 2026

Procedural History

Substitute information charging the defendant with
four counts of the crime of sexual assault in the first
* In accordance with our policy of protecting the privacy interests of the
victims of sexual abuse and the crime of risk of injury to a child, we decline
to use the defendant’s full name or to identify the victims or others through
whom the victims’ identities may be ascertained. See General Statutes
§ 54-86e.
Moreover, in accordance with federal law; see 18 U.S.C. § 2265 (d) (3)
(2024); we decline to identify any person protected or sought to be protected
under a protection order, protective order, or a restraining order that was
issued or applied for, or others through whom that person’s identity may
be ascertained.
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State v. Kenneth G.

degree, five counts of the crime of risk of injury to a
child, two counts of the crime of sexual assault in the
third degree, and one count each of the crimes of con-
spiracy to commit sexual assault in the third degree,
attempt to commit sexual assault in the first degree,
and possession of child pornography in the first degree,
brought to the Superior Court in the judicial district of
Danbury, geographical area number three, and tried to
the jury before Pavia, J.; verdict and judgment of guilty
of three counts of sexual assault in the first degree,
five counts of risk of injury to a child, two counts of
sexual assault in the third degree, and one count each
of conspiracy to commit sexual assault in the third
degree, attempt to commit sexual assault in the first
degree, and possession of child pornography in the first
degree, from which the defendant appealed to the
Supreme Court, which transferred the appeal to this
court. Affirmed.
Lisa J. Steele, assigned counsel, for the appellant
(defendant).
Jonathan M. Sousa, assistant state’s attorney, with
whom, on the brief, were David Applegate, state’s attor-
ney, and Kristin Chiriatti and Mary-Caitlin Harding,
assistant state’s attorneys, for the state (appellee).
Opinion

ALVORD, J. The defendant, Kenneth G., appeals from
the judgment of conviction, rendered after a jury trial,
of possession of child pornography in the first degree
in violation of General Statutes (Rev. to 2019) § 53a-
196d (a) (1).1 On appeal, the defendant claims that there
1
Hereinafter, unless otherwise indicated, all references to § 53a-196d in
this opinion are to the 2019 revision of the statute. That statute was amended
by No. 24-118, § 4, of the 2024 Public Acts, effective October 1, 2024, which
made technical changes to the statute by changing the term ‘‘child pornogra-
phy’’ to ‘‘child sexual abuse material.’’ State v. Inzitari, 351 Conn. 86, 88
n.1, 329 A.3d 215, cert. denied, U.S. , 145 S. Ct. 2787, 222 L. Ed. 2d
1080 (2025).
The jury found the defendant guilty of thirteen counts, including three
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State v. Kenneth G.

was insufficient evidence to support his conviction of
possession of child pornography.2 We affirm the judg-
ment of the trial court.
The jury reasonably could have found the following
facts. The defendant is the father of E and G, who
are half-siblings. E lived with the defendant and the
defendant’s wife, Lisa G. (Lisa), who is E’s mother, until
E moved away at the age of eighteen. G lived out of
state but visited the defendant occasionally until G was
between the ages of twelve and fourteen. The events
underlying the defendant’s convictions as they relate
to E occurred between 2003 and 2015, when E was
between the ages of seven and eighteen. The events
underlying the defendant’s conviction as they relate to
G occurred sometime between 2004 and 2005.
The defendant raised E in what E described as a
‘‘nudist household’’ and encouraged both E and G to
counts of sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes
§ 53a-70 (a) (2), five counts of risk of injury to a child in violation of General
Statutes § 53-21 (a) (2), two counts of sexual assault in the third degree in
violation of General Statutes § 53a-72a (a) (1) (B) and (a) (2), one count of
conspiracy to commit sexual assault in the third degree in violation of
General Statutes §§ 53a-48 (a) and 53a-72a (a) (1) (B), one count of attempt
to commit sexual assault in the first degree in violation of General Statutes
§§ 53a-49 (a) (2) and 53a-70 (a) (1), and one count of possession of child
pornography in the first degree in violation of § 53a-196d (a) (1). On appeal,
the defendant challenges only his conviction of possession of child pornogra-
phy in the first degree.
2
Although the defendant has separately briefed his arguments in support
of his claim, we will address them together. Additionally, the defendant
raises the alternative claim that, ‘‘[i]f this court concludes that ‘knowing
possession’ of child pornography includes (1) thumbnails automatically cre-
ated by a computer program and normally inaccessible to the user, or
(2) viewing images of child pornography with no evidence that the user
intentionally stored or manipulated the images, then the statute is unconstitu-
tionally vague when applied to [him] under the facts in this case.’’ In light
of our conclusions that the defendant was convicted of possessing the
original images of child pornography, and not the thumbnails, and that the
defendant did not merely view the images on a website, we need not reach
the defendant’s alternative claim that the statute is void for vagueness as
applied to his conduct.
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State v. Kenneth G.

be naked when in the defendant’s home. E testified to
being scared of the defendant because he was the ‘‘main
. . . punisher’’ and ‘‘would be the one to spank [E]’’
but that the spankings stopped at a certain age when
E ‘‘was more obedient.’’ At some point between 2003
and 2005, when E was between the ages of seven and
nine, the defendant anally penetrated E with his penis
while they were alone in his bedroom.
During one of G’s visits to the defendant’s residence,
G recalled being alone with the defendant while both
were naked in the living room and that ‘‘it was brought
up to kind of explore each other’s bodies.’’ They then
engaged in sexual intercourse by which G performed
oral sex on the defendant and the defendant performed
oral sex on G.
Between 2006 and 2008, when E was between the
ages of ten and twelve, the defendant created what he
called an ‘‘escape game,’’ in which the defendant would
‘‘tie [E] up in different ways and either use . . . a can-
dle that [E] had to blow out, or the microwave [timer],
with a countdown. And [E] had to . . . escape before
the countdown . . . finished.’’ In the final occurrence,
the defendant tied E to a ‘‘support beam pole’’ in the
garage with zip ties while E was naked. E remained
tied to the pole after the timer expired, and, as punish-
ment for failing to escape, the defendant used his belt
to whip E while E was still tied to the pole. After hitting
E a couple times with the belt, the defendant penetrated
E anally with his penis.
Within this same time frame, the defendant also
would threaten E with ‘‘rough anal’’ as punishment if
E received a grade of C or below. In a separate occur-
rence, the defendant sought to engage in a role-playing
exercise in which ‘‘he was much rougher’’ than he had
been previously. At that time, the defendant penetrated
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State v. Kenneth G.

E anally with his penis while they were alone in his
bedroom.
When E was eleven years of age, the defendant asked
E to write a letter to Lisa telling her about the sexual
acts that the defendant and E had been engaging in and
inviting Lisa to join them. Shortly thereafter, during
‘‘family time,’’ when the defendant, E, and Lisa ate din-
ner and watched television, the defendant initiated oral
sex with Lisa. While Lisa performed oral sex on the
defendant, he would snap to get E’s attention and sum-
mon E to participate. Once E went over to the defendant
and Lisa, the defendant had E ‘‘fondle his testicles while
[Lisa] was performing oral [sex] . . . .’’ On some occa-
sions, the defendant would bring E and Lisa to his
bedroom, where the defendant and Lisa would engage
in vaginal intercourse, while the defendant would have
E watch or ‘‘fondle his testicles while they had sex.’’
This occurred a few times a week until E moved from
the residence at the age of eighteen.
In 2014, at the age of seventeen, E began attending
college out of state, where E lived temporarily. When
E returned to the defendant’s home in Connecticut for
winter break, the defendant tried to pull E in to ‘‘kiss
[the defendant] and to . . . grope and fondle [E]’’ while
they were in the defendant’s bedroom. When E resisted
the defendant’s advances, the defendant slapped E
across the face, causing E to fall onto the defendant’s
bed. E could not recollect what occurred after the fall.
In the fall of 2021, E made a complaint to the Danbury
Police Department that the defendant sexually abused E
for years. In December, 2021, Danbury police executed
search warrants for the defendant’s home and elec-
tronic devices within the home. They seized several
electronic devices, including the defendant’s iPad, on
which the Connecticut Forensic Science Laboratory
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State v. Kenneth G.

(forensic laboratory) conducted a partial extraction3
and identified sixty-six thumbnails of potential child
pornography, as well as approximately 300 thumbnails
of potential child erotica.4 The forensic laboratory also
identified a bookmark for a Reddit webpage titled
‘‘Incest Porn,’’ as well as a search for ‘‘My Family Pies
Devoted to Daddy,’’ which is a pornographic website
related to sexual families and incest sex.

On May 31, 2022, the defendant was arrested pursuant
to a warrant. Prior to trial, the state filed a fifth amended
long form information dated August 22, 2023, charging
the defendant with four counts of sexual assault in the
first degree in violation of General Statutes § 53a-70 (a)
(2), five counts of risk of injury to a child in violation
of General Statutes § 53-21 (a) (2), two counts of sexual
assault in the third degree in violation of General Stat-
utes § 53a-72a (a) (1) (B) and (a) (2), one count of
conspiracy to commit sexual assault in the third degree
in violation of General Statutes §§ 53a-48 (a) and 53a-
72a (a) (1) (B), one count of attempt to commit sexual
assault in the first degree in violation of General Stat-
utes §§ 53a-49 (a) (2) and 53a-70 (a) (1), and one count
3
The state’s computer crimes and digital evidence expert from the forensic
laboratory, Mark Newth, testified that ‘‘[e]xtraction means we’re extracting
the data from the device and copying it to another drive so that we can
analyze it. So, it’s creating a . . . forensic image. For some reason when
we do a computer, we call it imaging, when we do a . . . mobile device,
we call it an extraction, but it’s the same thing.’’
4
Thumbnails, as the state’s computer crimes and digital evidence expert
from the forensic laboratory, Mark Newth, described, are ‘‘basically a copy
of an original image that’s . . . made at a smaller size.’’ He also explained
that they are ‘‘[n]ot regular images. . . . If . . . you own a mobile device
or . . . computer . . . when you open a folder, that’s full of images, you
can choose in the view menu . . . [if] you wanna see large icons, small
icons. Those icons that display the images are what we call thumbnails and
thumbnail images are created by the operating system for the purpose of
display like that . . . .’’ He further noted that the images found on the
iPad ‘‘were thumbnail images, not the actual images of the potential child
pornography.’’
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State v. Kenneth G.

of possessing child pornography in the first degree in
violation of § 53a-196d (a) (1).

A jury trial commenced on August 29, 2023, and
included testimony from Mark Newth, the state’s com-
puter crimes and digital evidence expert from the foren-
sic laboratory, and James Oulundsen, the defense’s digi-
tal forensic expert. Both experts agreed that the iPad’s
user could not access the thumbnails. Newth testified
that a thumbnail is created when the image that the
thumbnail represents is viewed or accessed on a device.
Referring to his extraction report, Newth explained that
each of the images represented by the sixty-six thumb-
nails was viewed on the iPad once and over the course
of four different dates in September and October, 2020.
He further noted that those images were not accessed
through the Internet because the file path5 for the
thumbnails on the defendant’s iPad did not show a web
browser.6 Instead, Newth testified that the file path
showed a File Browser application, a software that
would have been downloaded onto the iPad that allows
a user to transfer files and folders among Apple
devices.7 Testimony from Sergeant David Antedomen-
ico of the Danbury Police Department established that,
5
In his testimony, Newth described a file path as a series of folders that
need to be opened to get to a specific file.
6
Newth explained that, on an iPad, the web browser comes preinstalled
and it is called ‘‘the Apple Safari web browser.’’ He further opined that if
the images had been accessed through an Internet browser such as Safari,
or if the user had installed another Internet browser such as Google Chrome
or Mozilla Firefox, those browsers, rather than the File Browser application,
would have been identified in the file path.
7
Newth testified that ‘‘File Browser is an app that’s used by Apple users
to share files and folders among their Apple devices. . . . So, you can use
File Browser if you have your iPad open and you have File Browser on it,
you can use it to access files and folders that are on your other Apple
devices. Your laptop, your cell phone, whatever it might be. So, these . . .
thumbnails that were inside this folder [on the defendant’s iPad] were
accessed through this File Browser app and came from another Apple device
that the user had access to.’’
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State v. Kenneth G.

inter alia, three Apple devices—an iPad, a MacBook
Air laptop, and a MacBook Pro laptop—were seized as
part of the police investigation. Each of these electronic
devices displayed the defendant’s first and last name as
the username associated with the device. The defendant
acknowledged that he installed the File Browser app
onto his iPad. Newth also explained that the original
images accessed by the iPad came from another device
but that he could not determine which device.
On September 6, 2023, at the conclusion of the state’s
case-in-chief, defense counsel orally moved for a judg-
ment of acquittal on, inter alia, the possession of child
pornography charge. After hearing oral arguments from
both defense counsel and the prosecutor, the court,
Pavia, J., denied the motion. Thereafter, the defendant
testified. He testified that he did not know the thumb-
nails existed, that he did not have access to the thumb-
nails, that he did not access or view the images on his
iPad, that he did not download the images, and that he
did not know how the thumbnails got onto his iPad. In
addition, Oulundsen offered testimony that conflicted
with Newth in that he suggested that there was no way
to determine if the images were viewed on the iPad.
He further explained that the File Browser application
creates different folders for different types of data avail-
able from a particular device and that he could not
determine who created the images without the original
device. Oulundsen, however, confirmed that the user
would have to actively take steps to transfer the thumb-
nail data to a device for the thumbnails to appear.
The jury returned a verdict on September 11, 2023,
finding the defendant guilty of thirteen of the fourteen
counts and not guilty on count eleven, which alleged a
violation of § 53a-70 (a) (2) pertaining to G. Shortly
thereafter, the defendant filed a motion for a judgment
of acquittal with respect to the possession of child por-
nography charge. On November 21, 2023, the court
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State v. Kenneth G.

heard argument on the motion. The court denied the
motion, concluding that, ‘‘should the jury have deemed
the evidence to be credible, which ultimately in this
case [it] did, then there is sufficient evidence by which
the jury could have found each and every element of the
charged offense.’’ The court sentenced the defendant
to a total effective sentence of fifty-five years of incar-
ceration, fifteen years of which was a mandatory mini-
mum, execution suspended after forty years, followed
by thirty-five years of probation. This appeal, challeng-
ing only the defendant’s conviction of possession of
child pornography in the first degree, followed. Addi-
tional facts and procedural history will be set forth as
necessary.
On appeal, the defendant asserts three arguments to
support his claim that the state failed to proffer suffi-
cient evidence that the defendant knowingly possessed
child pornography. He argues that (1) he could not
knowingly possess thumbnails created automatically
by a computer program and saved in a directory he was
not aware of and could not access; (2) he could not
knowingly possess images that are only viewed or
accessed; and (3) the state failed to show that he viewed
or accessed the images. The state asserts that it ‘‘pre-
sented sufficient evidence that the defendant exercised
control or dominion over the original images of child
pornography.’’ (Emphasis omitted.) We agree with
the state.
We begin with our standard of review and the relevant
legal principles that guide our analysis of the defen-
dant’s sufficiency of the evidence challenge. It is well
settled that a defendant who ‘‘asserts an insufficiency of
the evidence claim bears an arduous burden.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) State v. Rodriguez, 146
Conn. App. 99, 110, 75 A.3d 798, cert. denied, 310 Conn.
948, 80 A.3d 906 (2013). ‘‘[F]or the purposes of suffi-
ciency review . . . we review the sufficiency of the
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State v. Kenneth G.

evidence as the case was tried . . . . [A] claim of insuf-
ficiency of the evidence must be tested by reviewing
no less than, and no more than, the evidence introduced
at trial.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v.
Nasheed, 121 Conn. App. 672, 682, 997 A.2d 623, cert.
denied, 298 Conn. 902, 3 A.3d 73 (2010). ‘‘In reviewing
a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we apply a two part
test. First, we construe the evidence in the light most
favorable to sustaining the verdict. Second, we deter-
mine whether upon the facts so construed and the infer-
ences reasonably drawn therefrom the [jury] reasonably
could have concluded that the cumulative force of the
evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt
. . . . This court cannot substitute its own judgment
for that of the jury if there is sufficient evidence to
support the jury’s verdict.’’ (Internal quotation marks
omitted.) State v. Allan, 311 Conn. 1, 25, 83 A.3d 326
(2014).
‘‘[T]he jury must find every element proven beyond
a reasonable doubt in order to find the defendant guilty
of the charged offense, [but] each of the basic and
inferred facts underlying those conclusions need not
be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. . . . If it is rea-
sonable and logical for the jury to conclude that a basic
fact or an inferred fact is true, the jury is permitted to
consider the fact proven and may consider it in combi-
nation with other proven facts in determining whether
the cumulative effect of all the evidence proves the
defendant guilty of all the elements of the crime charged
beyond a reasonable doubt. . . .
‘‘Moreover, it does not diminish the probative force
of the evidence that it consists, in whole or in part, of
evidence that is circumstantial rather than direct. . . .
It is not one fact . . . but the cumulative impact of
a multitude of facts which establishes guilt in a case
involving substantial circumstantial evidence. . . . In
evaluating evidence, the [jury] is not required to accept
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State v. Kenneth G.

as dispositive those inferences that are consistent with
the defendant’s innocence. . . . The [jury] may draw
whatever inferences from the evidence or facts estab-
lished by the evidence [that] it deems to be reasonable
and logical.’’ (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State
v. Papandrea, 302 Conn. 340, 348–49, 26 A.3d 75 (2011).
Finally, on appeal, we do not ‘‘ask whether there is
a reasonable view of the evidence that would support
a reasonable hypothesis of innocence. We ask, instead,
whether there is a reasonable view of the evidence that
supports the jury’s verdict of guilty.’’ (Internal quotation
marks omitted.) State v. VanDeusen, 160 Conn. App.
815, 823, 126 A.3d 604, cert. denied, 320 Conn. 903, 127
A.3d 187 (2015).
General Statutes (Rev. to 2019) § 53a-196d (a) pro-
vides in relevant part: ‘‘A person is guilty of possessing
child pornography in the first degree when such person
knowingly possesses (1) fifty or more visual depictions
of child pornography . . . .’’ ‘‘Possess, as defined in
[General Statutes] § 53a-3 (2), means to have physical
possession or otherwise to exercise dominion or con-
trol over tangible property. . . . Our jurisprudence elu-
cidating this definition teaches that such possession
may be actual or constructive. . . . Nevertheless,
[b]oth actual and constructive possession require a per-
son to exercise dominion and control over the [contra-
band] and to have knowledge of its presence and char-
acter. . . . Actual possession requires the defendant
to have had direct physical contact with the [contra-
band]. . . . Typically, the state will proceed under a
theory of constructive possession when the [contra-
band is] not found on the defendant’s person at the
time of arrest, but the accused still exercises dominion
and control. . . . In this regard, [t]he essence of exer-
cising control is not the manifestation of an act of con-
trol but instead it is the act of being in a position of
control coupled with the requisite mental intent. In our
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State v. Kenneth G.

criminal statutes involving possession, this control
must be exercised intentionally and with knowledge8
of the character of the controlled object.’’ (Footnote
added; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v.
Spence, 165 Conn. App. 110, 123, 138 A.3d 1048, cert.
denied, 321 Conn. 927, 138 A.3d 287 (2016).
We first address the defendant’s argument that he
could not knowingly possess thumbnails that ‘‘were
automatically created and stored in a directory inacces-
sible to the user . . . .’’ The defendant asserts that this
is an issue of first impression in Connecticut and asks
this court to ‘‘follow [other] jurisdictions and conclude
that a defendant does not knowingly possess thumb-
nails where there is no evidence that the defendant
knew about the automatically generated thumbnails or
had knowingly accessed them.’’ The state counters that
this argument should fail because the defendant was
charged with possession of the original images. We
agree with the state.
We find the defendant’s argument to be without merit
because it incorrectly is premised on his contention
that he was prosecuted for and convicted of possessing
thumbnails.9 In its case-in-chief, the state advanced the
theory that because a thumbnail is a copy of the original
image and cannot be created without the original image,
8
General Statutes § 53a-3 (12) provides: ‘‘A person acts ‘knowingly’ with
respect to conduct or to a circumstance described by a statute defining an
offense when he is aware that his conduct is of such nature or that such
circumstance exists . . . .’’
The court instructed the jury on the element of knowledge as follows:
‘‘The defendant must have knowingly possessed the object, that in this case
is the child pornography. A person acts knowingly with respect to the
possession of something when he is aware that he is in possession of it and
is aware of the character of it. The state must prove beyond a reasonable
doubt that the defendant knew that he was in possession of the object.’’
9
Because we conclude that the child pornography charge is based on the
defendant’s possession of the original images, and not the thumbnails, we
decline to address the out-of-state authority offered by the defendant in
support of his argument that a defendant cannot knowingly possess thumb-
nails under § 53a-196d.
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State v. Kenneth G.

the thumbnails served as evidence that the defendant
knowingly possessed the original images his iPad
accessed in September and October, 2020. In his reply
brief, the defendant asserts that the state changed its
theory of liability on appeal, alleging that, ‘‘[b]ased on
the state’s arguments to the trial court . . . the [defen-
dant] believed that the state was arguing that [the defen-
dant] possessed the thumbnails’’ and that the state only
‘‘implied that the jury could convict [the defendant] of
possessing the original images . . . .’’10 The record
reflects, however, that through the prosecutor’s direct
and cross-examination of the forensic experts,11 her
10
We note, however, that the defendant, throughout his principal appellate
brief, also appears to recognize that the state’s focus was on the original
images. The defendant represented as follows: ‘‘The state argued that the
thumbnails were copies of images that were accessed on four dates in
September and October, 2020. . . . Implicitly, it argued that accessing the
original images was possession of child pornography’’ (citation omitted);
‘‘[i]n effect, the state argued [that the defendant] could be convicted if he
viewed the original images, but never intentionally downloaded them, and
that the thumbnails were evidence that he had intentionally viewed the
original images’’; and ‘‘[i]mplicit in the state’s closing argument is the notion
that [the defendant] knowingly accessed or viewed the images that were
automatically stored as thumbnails and could be convicted on that basis,
even if he did not know that the thumbnails existed.’’
11
The following colloquies show that the state sought to elicit testimony
from the forensic experts that supports the theory that the defendant know-
ingly possessed the images, and not the thumbnails. Newth was questioned
as follows:
‘‘[The Prosecutor]: And when is a thumbnail created?
‘‘[Newth]: When an image is viewed or accessed.
***
‘‘[The Prosecutor]: Can you tell us whether there is any way to create a
thumbnail image without having an actual image?
‘‘[Newth]: No, there’s not. The thumbnail image is a—basically a copy of
an original image that’s . . . made at a smaller size.
‘‘[The Prosecutor]: And through your training and experience, were you
able to determine if these images were accessed through . . . a website?
Through viewing the web?
‘‘[Newth]: It . . . does not appear that they were accessed through the
web, no. They were accessed, very clearly, the data shows they came from
this File Browser app . . . .’’
Oulundsen was questioned as follows:
‘‘[The Prosecutor]: But if an actual image isn’t there, that can indicate
that that was deleted, right?
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State v. Kenneth G.

opposition to the defendant’s motions for judgment of
acquittal, and her closing argument,12 the prosecutor
consistently advanced the theory that the possession of
child pornography charge was based on the defendant’s
constructive possession of the original images, and not
the thumbnails.
We next address the defendant’s argument that there
was insufficient evidence to establish that the defendant
knowingly possessed child pornography because the
state failed to present evidence that the defendant
knowingly viewed or accessed the images. The state
responds that it presented sufficient evidence from
which a jury reasonably could have concluded that the
defendant had constructive possession of the original
images. Specifically, the state argues that the evidence
shows that the defendant exercised control over the
original images of child pornography, in that he not
only viewed the images but also transferred them to
his iPad and ultimately deleted them. We agree with
the state.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to
sustaining the verdict, the jury reasonably could have
‘‘[Oulundsen]: If . . . you take a photo with an iPhone, it creates both
the image and the thumbnail for the gallery view. If you delete that image,
often times the thumbnail would remain.’’
12
In her argument opposing the oral motion for judgment of acquittal
on September 6, 2023, the prosecutor recognized that ‘‘while these were
thumbnail images, what that indicated is that the actual images had been
deleted and . . . that any thumbnail image cannot be created without an
actual image.’’ In her closing argument on September 8, 2023, the prosecutor
argued that thumbnails ‘‘don’t just magically pop up, there has to be an
original image because a thumbnail is a copy . . . . There were no original
images on that device but there were thumbnails, there were traces left
behind . . . .’’ The state’s contention that the thumbnails are traces of the
original images indicates that the thumbnails serve as evidence in support
of its case and not the actual contraband on which it sought to prosecute
the defendant. Finally, in the state’s opposition to the defendant’s motion
for judgment of acquittal on November 21, 2023, the prosecutor further
argued that ‘‘[the defendant] was charged with the possession of the original
pornographic images that were downloaded throughout the months of Sep-
tember and October [2020].’’
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State v. Kenneth G.

concluded that the defendant knowingly possessed the
original sixty-six images of child pornography. The state
presented evidence that the listed name and email
address on the iPad containing the sixty-six thumbnails
appeared as the defendant’s first and last name followed
by the word iPad and the defendant’s first and last name
as contained in an email address, respectively. The
defendant testified that he owned the iPad and that he
downloaded the File Browser application in 2011. The
defendant also denied the ‘‘claim that someone else
was using [his] iPad.’’ Both Newth and Oulundsen testi-
fied that the file path for the thumbnails showed that
they came from the File Browser application, which is
used to transfer files and folders among Apple devices,
and not from an Internet web browser such as Safari.
Oulundsen further responded affirmatively to the prose-
cutor’s question verifying ‘‘that the user has to actively
take steps to transfer that data’’ for the thumbnails to
be found on a device. Relatedly, the defendant replied
‘‘[p]robably’’ when asked, ‘‘[s]o, you understand then,
that a user of your iPad had to access another device,
and pull those images onto your iPad, right?’’ Newth
testified that a thumbnail is created when the actual
image is viewed or accessed and that the sixty-six origi-
nal images were each viewed once over the course of
four days in September and October, 2020. Although
Oulundsen testified that he could not determine if any of
the images ever appeared on the iPad, he acknowledged
that, ‘‘[i]f you delete [an] image, often times, the thumb-
nail would remain.’’
Additionally, E testified that during E’s early teenage
years, the defendant took nude and sexually suggestive
photos of E and saved the photos on his computer in
an encrypted folder and told E that he liked looking at
them. Newth also testified that he recovered approxi-
mately 300 thumbnails of potential child erotica from
the defendant’s iPad. Moreover, the record reflects that
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State v. Kenneth G.

the defendant made an inquiry to an adult bookstore
asking for a book about ‘‘a daughter who hadn’t seen
a cock before and wanted to see daddy’s cock’’ and
searched the Internet for ‘‘My Family Pies Devoted to
Daddy,’’ a website Newth described as ‘‘specializ[ing]
in sexual families, basically, incest sex . . . .’’
From this evidence, the jury reasonably could have
found that the defendant transferred, viewed, and later
deleted the original sixty-six images of child pornogra-
phy. The jury could have relied on the thumbnails found
on the defendant’s iPad as evidence that the defendant
possessed the original images at an earlier time. See
United States v. Golden, 44 F.4th 1129, 1132 (8th Cir.
2022) (where expert witness testified in part that ‘‘a
thumbnail indicates that the original of that image was
in the phone’s gallery application at some point,’’ exis-
tence of thumbnails on defendant’s device supported
conclusion that defendant knowingly received and pos-
sessed image); United States v. Huyck, 849 F.3d 432,
443 (8th Cir. 2017) (‘‘though the ninety-five thumbnail
images on the . . . hard drive were not viewable with-
out special software, they nonetheless constituted evi-
dence of prior possession of child pornography’’). More-
over, the jury could have inferred that the defendant
used the File Browser application to transfer the origi-
nal images to his iPad from another device because
he owned the iPad and downloaded the File Browser
application, he does not claim that anyone else used
his iPad, the File Browser application is used to share
files between devices, and the file path of the thumb-
nails showed that the images came from the File
Browser application. The jury also reasonably could
have inferred that the defendant viewed and deleted
those images because Newth testified that a thumbnail
is created when an image is viewed or accessed on a
device, the extraction report showed that the images
were each accessed once over the course of four dates
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State v. Kenneth G.

in September and October, 2020, and Oulundsen testi-
fied that the thumbnail remains on the device after an
image is deleted.
Moreover, the jury could have inferred that the
images were not downloaded inadvertently or by mis-
take and that the defendant was aware of their existence
on the basis of the evidence that the defendant was
familiar with nude and sexually suggestive photos of
children and how to search for and store such material
on his devices. See United States v. Huyck, supra, 849
F.3d 443 (‘‘evidence detailing [the defendant’s] knowl-
edge of, and interest in, child pornography, were proba-
tive as circumstantial evidence regarding [the defen-
dant’s] knowing possession of the [hard drive containing
thumbnails of child pornography]’’ (internal quotation
marks omitted)); United States v. Woerner, 709 F.3d
527, 537 (5th Cir.) (jury was not required to accept
defendant’s plausible explanation for how child pornog-
raphy came to be on computer where state presented
evidence of defendant’s involvement with child pornog-
raphy, including ninety videos and 1300 images found in
defendant’s email account, undercutting any potential
argument that child pornography was downloaded by
mistake), cert. denied, 571 U.S. 859, 134 S. Ct. 146, 187 L.
Ed. 2d 103 (2013). The evidence, therefore, reasonably
supports the jury’s determination that the state proved
beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant know-
ingly possessed the original images of child pornogra-
phy.
The defendant asserts that Newth’s testimony that
he ‘‘must have viewed the original images is not suffi-
cient to support [the] jury’s verdict . . . given Newth’s
unfamiliarity with the File Browser program.’’ On cross-
examination, Newth replied that he did not know if the
File Browser application could access the Internet and
that he did not know all of the application’s capabilities.
This exchange, however, primarily speaks to the issue
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State v. Kenneth G.

of whether the images were viewed on or downloaded
from the Internet or a web browser, and not to the
issue of whether the images were viewed on the iPad.
As to the first issue, both Newth and Oulundsen testified
that the file paths of the thumbnails show that the
images came from the File Browser application and
did not show any connection to an Internet browser.
Therefore, the jury reasonably could have concluded
that the defendant did not inadvertently download the
images onto his iPad by simply browsing the Internet
or viewing the images online. As to the second issue,
although Newth may not have been familiar with the
File Browser application, the jury could have credited
his testimony that thumbnails are created on a device
when images are viewed on that same device and that
thumbnails were found on the iPad, and it reasonably
could have inferred that the defendant viewed the
images on his iPad. Although the testimony of Newth
and Oulundsen conflicted as to whether it could be
determined that the images were viewed on the iPad,
‘‘[w]hen experts’ opinions conflict . . . [i]t is the prov-
ince of the [trier of fact] to weigh the evidence and
determine the credibility and the effect of testimony
. . . . [T]he [fact finder] is free to accept or reject each
expert’s opinion in whole or in part.’’ (Internal quotation
marks omitted.) State v. LeRoya M., 340 Conn. 590, 615,
264 A.3d 983 (2021).
In support of his argument that the evidence failed
to establish that he knowingly possessed child pornog-
raphy, the defendant seeks to distinguish the facts of
the present case from those of State v. Kirby, 156 Conn.
App. 607, 113 A.3d 138 (2015). The testimony in Kirby
demonstrated that the defendant’s computer contained
twenty-four images of child pornography in its thumb-
cache.13 Id., 615. The original images were contained
13
In Kirby, the police officer who conducted the computer forensics
investigation testified that a ‘‘[t]humbcache is a . . . small copy of the
picture. What happens is, when things are brought into the computer there
are thumbcache versions of them. They’re smaller versions of them. . . .
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State v. Kenneth G.

on the victim’s old cell phone, which she gave to the
defendant, along with her new cell phone, after he
offered to transfer the information from the old phone
to the new phone. Id., 611. The thumbcache images
depicted the photos contained on her old phone, but
one blurred the victim’s face and others had been
rotated. Id., 615. The court concluded that, ‘‘[f]rom this
testimony, the jury reasonably could have inferred that
the defendant copied the photographs onto his com-
puter when he transferred the information from the
victim’s old cell phone to the new one, and that he knew
that they were on his computer because he rotated
them and altered the victim’s face in one photograph.’’
Id. The defendant posits that, unlike Kirby, where there
was evidence that the defendant altered the thumbnails,
‘‘[t]here is no evidence that [the defendant] manipulated
the original images or the thumbnails.’’ Moreover, the
defendant contends that ‘‘there is no evidence about the
source of the images that the thumbnails were created
from; whether [the defendant] knowingly viewed those
images; or whether he knew the thumbnails were on
his iPad.’’ We are not persuaded.
In both the present case and Kirby, the original pho-
tos were not found on the defendant’s device, yet
thumbnails or images in a thumbcache remained on
the device. Additionally, in both instances, there was
evidence that the defendant transferred the images onto
his device. Furthermore, the jury in the present case
reasonably could have found that the defendant viewed
the images on his iPad on the basis of Newth’s testi-
mony. The ability to transfer images across devices and
There’s different ways [pictures in the thumbcache] can be viewed. The
way I viewed them was because of the forensic tool. There are ways you
can go onto Google and you can download a thumbcache viewer.’’ (Internal
quotation marks omitted.) State v. Kirby, supra, 156 Conn. App. 611 n.4.
Although the present case and Kirby use different terminology, we note
that ‘‘thumbnails’’ and ‘‘thumbcache’’ as used in their respective contexts
both describe images that are not original images and typically are not
accessible to the user of that device.
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State v. Kenneth G.

view them on his iPad suggests that the defendant also
could download, copy, and save the images, placing
him in a position of control over the images. Although
there was no evidence presented that the defendant
manipulated the thumbnails, as was presented in Kirby,
the defendant’s knowledge of the original images could
be inferred by the affirmative steps needed to transfer
the thumbnails to the iPad and the defendant’s experi-
ences with similar material, both of which support the
conclusion that the images were not downloaded by
mistake. Accordingly, viewing the evidence in the light
most favorable to sustaining the verdict, we conclude
that the jury reasonably could have found that the defen-
dant knowingly possessed sixty-six images of child por-
nography.
The defendant further argues that § 53a-196d (a) (1)
does not encompass ‘‘accessing or viewing images if
there is no evidence that the defendant intentionally
stored them, printed them out, or otherwise accessed
them.’’ The defendant asks this court to adopt the con-
clusion reached by courts in Alaska, New York, and
Oregon that merely viewing images does not constitute
possession. We are not persuaded.
The cases on which the defendant relies involve
thumbnail or cache images automatically saved to a
defendant’s device when viewing or accessing the origi-
nal images on the Internet. See Worden v. State, 213
P.3d 144, 147 (Alaska App. 2009) (‘‘even though the
images . . . were found amongst the cache files on
. . . [the defendant’s] computer, there was no indica-
tion that [the defendant] had any intent to permanently
store the images—his intent was simply to view the
images on his computer screen for the time he was at
a given website’’); People v. Kent, 19 N.Y.3d 290, 301,
970 N.E.2d 833, 947 N.Y.S.2d 798 (2012) (‘‘regardless
of a defendant’s awareness of his computer’s cache
function, the files stored in the cache may constitute
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State v. Kenneth G.

evidence of images that were previously viewed; to
possess those images, however, the defendant’s con-
duct must exceed mere viewing to encompass more
affirmative acts of control such as printing, download-
ing or saving’’); State v. Barger, 349 Or. 553, 567, 247
P.3d 309 (2011) (‘‘navigating to a website and bringing
the images that the site contains to a computer screen—
are not acts that the legislature intended to crimi-
nalize’’).
The present case differs from these three out-of-state
cases in several respects. As previously discussed, the
defendant was charged with possession of the original
images, and not thumbnails, and the state presented
sufficient evidence from which a jury reasonably could
have found that the original images were transferred
from another Apple device to the defendant’s iPad
through the File Browser application and not through
the Internet. Thus, the defendant’s conduct involved
more than merely viewing the images on a website. The
out-of-state cases on which the defendant relies are
factually distinguishable, and, therefore, we reject the
defendant’s argument.
Accordingly, viewing the evidence in the light most
favorable to sustaining the verdict and the inferences
reasonably drawn therefrom, we conclude that the jury
reasonably could have found that the cumulative force
of the evidence established guilt beyond a reasonable
doubt with respect to the charge of possession of child
pornography in the first degree. Therefore, the evidence
was sufficient to support the defendant’s conviction of
that charge.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other judges concurred.