Gallupville Man Sentenced for Possessing Child Pornography

Andrew T. Baxter, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Harry J. Corbitt, Superintendent, New York State Police, and John F. Pikus, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, announced that JOHN C. HOTALING, age 49, of Gallupville, New York, was sentenced today by the Honorable Norman A. Mordue in Federal Court in Albany on his guilty plea to count one of an Indictment charging him with the possession of child pornography. HOTALING was sentenced to 78 months' imprisonment and ordered to serve a lifetime term of supervised release. He also was ordered to (1) have no unsupervised contact with minors; (2) participate in a sex offender program; and (3) register with the New York State Sex Offender Registry Program. The court also ordered that computer equipment be forfeited to the United States.

HOTALING pled guilty on February 5, 2009. In connection with his plea, HOTALING admitted the following in a written plea agreement and during his plea proceeding:

At all times relevant herein, JOHN C. HOTALING (born in 1960) resided in Sharon Springs, New York and utilized America Online (AOL) as his Internet service provider. Any use of AOL by HOTALING involved wire transmissions between the Northern District of New York and the State of Virginia.

On January 18, 2005, a New York State search warrant was executed at HOTALING'S residence at 148 France Street, Sharon Springs, New York, which is located in the Northern District of New York. Among other things, a desktop computer, product # KM266-8235, Vendor-VIA Technologies, was recovered from said residence. This computer was manufactured outside the State of New York and was produced using materials that had been mailed, shipped, or transported in interstate and foreign commerce. A forensic examination of this computer was subsequently conducted. The results of that examination revealed that HOTALING possessed computer images of six known minor females which he had digitally altered. More specifically, the heads of the known minor females had been "cut" from their original non pornographic image and "pasted" over the heads of nude or partially nude females engaged in sexually explicit conduct...The government has not been able to establish whose bodies are depicted in the alter

More specifically, the following computer altered images were created by HOTALING and recovered from his computer:

A. Images of Jane Doe # 1 (born in 1987)

Two sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 1 were recovered. These two images depict the face of Jane Doe # 1 attached to the body of unknown females engaged in the lascivious exhibition of their genitals and pubic area. An additional computer altered image containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 1 and which depicts a female in a bikini was also recovered. At the time the original image of Jane Doe # 1's face, which appears in these altered images, was created, she was less than 18 years of age.

B. Images of Jane Doe # 2 (born in 1991)

Two sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 2 were recovered. These two images depict the face of Jane Doe # 2 attached to the body of an unknown female engaged in the lascivious exhibition of her genitals and pubic area. At the time the original image of Jane Doe # 2's face, which appears in these altered images, was created, she was less than 14 years of age.

C. Images of Jane Doe # 3 (born in 1990)

Approximately 38 sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 3 were recovered. Approximately 19 of these images contained the words "www.upstateteens.com" at the bottom center of the images. All 38 of the images depict the face of Jane Doe # 3 attached to the bodies of unknown nude or partially naked females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. More specifically, these images depict the females engaged in masturbation and the lascivious exhibition of their genitals and pubic area. Additional images depicting the face of Jane Doe # 3 attached to the bodies of unknown females wearing only bikini bottoms were also recovered. At the time the original images of Jane Doe # 3's face, which appear in these altered images, were created, she was less than 15 years of age.

D. Images of Jane Doe # 4 (born in 1990)

Approximately 12 sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 4 were recovered. All of these images depicts the face of Jane Doe # 4 attached to the bodies of an unknown nude or partially naked females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. More specifically, these images depict the females engaged in the lascivious exhibition of their genitals and pubic area. Additional images depicting the face of Jane Doe # 4 attached to the bodies of an unknown females nude or only partially dressed were also recovered. At the time the original images of Jane Doe # 4's face, which appear in these altered images, were created, she was less than 15 years of age.

E. Images of Jane Doe #5 (born in 1989)

Approximately 45 sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe #5 were recovered. Approximately 15 of these images contained the words "www.upstateteens.com" at the bottom center of the images. All 45 of the images depicts the face of Jane Doe #5 attached to the bodies of unknown nude or partially naked females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. More specifically, these images depict the females engaged in vaginal sex, self-masturbation, the masturbation of adult males, and the lascivious exhibition of their genitals and pubic area. Additional images depicting the face of Jane Doe #5 attached to the bodies of an unknown females nude or partially nude were also recovered. At the time the images of Jane Doe #5's face, which appear in these altered images, were created, she was less than 16 years of age.

F. Images of Jane Doe # 6 (born in 1990)

Approximately 196 sexually explicit computer altered images containing the head and face of Jane Doe # 6 were recovered. Approximately 35 of these images contained the words "www.upstateteens.com" at the bottom center of the images. All 196 of the images depict the face of Jane Doe # 6 attached to the bodies of unknown nude or partially naked females engaged in sexually explicit conduct. More specifically, these images depict the females engaged in vaginal sex, oral sex with adult males, self-masturbation, inserting a dildo into their vaginas, masturbation of adult men, and the lascivious exhibition of their genitals and pubic area. Computer altered images depicting Jane Doe # 6's face with a female body wearing a bikini with her nipples exposed while handcuffed, shackled and wearing a collar and a leash were also recovered. In addition, an altered image was recovered which depicts a naked male with HOTALING'S head and face performing vaginal intercourse with a female bearing Jane Doe.

Non-pornographic images of the minors which were used to create these altered images were also recovered from HOTALING's computer. HOTALING obtained the image of Jane Doe # 1's face from a computer that he was repairing for her family. He obtained the images of the heads and faces of Jane Does # 2-6 from a digital camera and/or computers. These non-pornographic images of Jane Does #2-6 were created using digital cameras. These cameras were manufactured outside the state of New York.

During the forensic examination of HOTALING's computer, investigators also recovered the files that could be used to create a website. For instance, files were recovered in "html" format that contain numerous thumbnail images which depict said altered images of Jane Does #1-6 appearing to engage in sexually explicit conduct, together with an index. Each of the thumbnail images bears a name, which includes the first name of the Jane Doe depicted. In addition, the top of each page states "[Jane] Upstate NY's Hottest Teen." The background of these pages depict multiple images of an unknown nude female. The pages also contain a notation that they were "Generated with Arles Image Web Page Creator." However, to date, there is no evidence that HOTALING published this website to the Internet or that he distributed the images to anyone.

The case was investigated by the New York State Police, Cobleskill Barracks, Schoharie County Child Protective Services, and the FBI's Capital Region Cyber Predator Task Force.