Father and Son Sentenced for Child Pornography Offenses

Richard S. Hartunian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and Clifford C. Holly, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, announced that PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR., age 73, of Waterford, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe in Federal Court in Albany on his guilty plea to one count of an Indictment charging him with the receipt of child pornography.

ARCHAMBAULT, SR. was sentenced to 180 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a five year 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. His son, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR., age 24, also of Waterford, New York, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd in Federal Court in Utica on January 3, 2011, on his guilty plea to one count of an Indictment charging him with the possession of child pornography. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. was sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment, to be followed by a five year 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.

ARCHAMBAULT, SR. pled guilty on August 12, 2010. In connection with his plea, he admitted the following in a written plea agreement and during his plea proceeding:

Beginning prior to November 1, 2008, and continuing through September 21, 2009, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR., used a Sony VAIO computer and an ACER computer to access the internet, download, and print over 1000 picture images of child pornography including picture images of boys between the ages of 10 and 14 engaged in anal sex, oral sex, masturbation, and the lascivious exhibition of their pubic areas. The images received by PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR. were printed from the respective desktop computer from his residence in Waterford, New York.

On or about June 10, 1965, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR., was convicted in Saratoga County Court of Sodomy (2nd Degree), a felony under New York State law and sentenced to a term of incarceration of 5 years. On or about May 1, 1972, he was convicted in Washington County Court of three counts of Sodomy (1st Degree), in violation of N.Y. Penal Law 130.50, and 4 counts of Sodomy (2nd Degree), in violation of N.Y. Penal Law 130.45, and was sentenced to a term of incarceration of 5 years. All of these convictions relate to acts of sexual abuse committed by PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR., on separate occasions against boys under the age of 13.

ARCHAMBAULT, JR., pled guilty on September 2, 2010. In connection with his plea, he admitted the following in his written plea agreement and during his plea proceeding:

On the evening of September 7, 2009, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR.sent an electronic message using MySpace.com to a 15 year old female from the Albany, New York area, identified here as “Jane Doe”. This initial electronic message sent by PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. was as follows:

How are you doing? I’m alright. I just moved to NY from FL and figured I'd use the browse feature to try to make some friends… if your interested in making around $4k-18k cash, let me know and we'll talk about it. My aim screenname is: "alwaysrunningup" and I'll be online all evening and all tomorrow I'm sure if you want to talk through there. P.S. Maybe we could even pick some apples as I'm guessing that's big up here and its that time of year now. :)

Jane Doe responded to this message and asked “how would I make that kind of money,lol.” Thereafter, Jane Doe and PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. engaged in an exchange of email messages. During their email exchange on MySpace, Jane Doe told PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. “I think its only fair to tell you I'm only 15, but that doesn't mean I'm saying no." In response to learning that Jane Doe was only 15 years old, ARCHAMBAULT, JR. asked Jane Doe "Is it okay that I'm 22?”

Jane Doe and PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. subsequently engaged in a web-chat using the America Online Instant Messenger service. This web-chat occurred late in the day on September 7, 2009, into the early morning hours of September 8, 2009. During the course of this web-chat, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. offered to pay Jane Doe $11,000 for oral sex and the opportunity to produce photographs of the oral sex. PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. continued to persuade Jane Doe during the web-chat to agree to perform oral sex on him in exchange for money. Jane Doe subsequently agreed.

During the course of the web chat, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. knew that Jane Doe was only 15 years old as she had told him, both in an email and during the web chat, that she was only 15 years old. Both the MySpace.com electronic mail and the America Online Instant Messenger service are facilities and means of interstate commerce. PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR.’s offer to pay Jane Doe $11,000 for oral sex was done knowingly and intentionally and with the purpose of persuading Jane Doe to engage in oral sex with PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR.

On September 8, 2009 at approximately 11:00 am, Jane Doe and PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. met at a local Town Park. Upon meeting, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. drove Jane Doe to an abandoned house. After parking his car, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. showed Jane Doe a big envelope that purportedly contained money. When Jane Doe asked to see the money, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. refused, telling Jane Doe she had to trust him that there was money inside the envelope.

PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. and Jane Doe subsequently entered the abandoned building and ascended to an upstairs bedroom. While upstairs, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. Jane Doe subsequently performed oral sex on ARCHAMBAULT, JR. During the course of the oral sex, ARCHAMBAULT, JR. told Jane Doe, in substance, "wow, you are only 15".

During the course of the oral sex, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. used a Canon digital camera to produce at least forty photographs of Jane Doe engaged in sexually explicit conduct (oral sex). ARCHAMBAULT also used the same Canon digital camera to produce five or more videos of Jane Doe engaged in sexually explicit conduct (oral sex). The canon digital camera used to produce these pictures and videos was manufactured outside of New York State.

PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. subsequently drove Jane Doe to a local convenient store. When Jane Doe asked about the $11,000 payment, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. dropped the envelope that allegedly contained the money out the window. After Jane Doe exited the vehicle to retrieve the envelope, ARCHAMBAULT drove off. Jane Doe opened envelope that allegedly contained the money. Inside the outer envelope was another envelope, which contained another envelope, which contained another envelope, etc. Inside the innermost envelope was a pile of shredded paper. There was no money in any of the envelopes.

PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. subsequently copied the images of Jane Doe performing oral sex on PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. from the digital camera storage card that had been inserted in the Canon digital camera to a computer and also a thumb drive. On September 22, 2009, the video and picture images of Jane Doe performing oral sex on PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. were still saved to the same computer, thumb drive, and digital camera storage card. On September 22, 2009, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. possessed the computer, the thumb drive, and the digital camera storage card at his home at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York, knowing that each piece of equipment contained images of a fifteen year old female (Jane Doe) performing oral sex on PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. The video and picture images of Jane Doe engaged in oral sex with PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. possessed on the computer, the thumb drive, and the digital camera storage card involved the use of an actual identifiable minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and were produced using materials (a Canon digital camera) that had been manufactured outside of New York State and previously shipped in interstate and foreign commerce.

PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. was in custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service at the Oneida County Jail from approximately September 22, 2010, until May 27, 2010, when he was released subject to home detention, electronic monitoring, and various other conditions. After being released on May 27, 2010, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. returned to his home at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York, a single family residence. On June 1, 2010, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. intentionally damaged the residential property at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York, by intentionally starting a fire in the home. At approximately 8:00 a.m. on June 1, 2010, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. intentionally started a fire in the bathtub on the second floor of the residence by soaking various towels with a flammable liquid, placing the towels in the bathtub, and then igniting the towels with a butane lighter. The fire started by PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. on June 1, 2010, was intended to damage and destroy the residential property at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York. The fire started by PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. did cause substantial damage to the residential property at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York, specifically, the second floor bathroom, adjacent hallways and rooms, the attic, and the roof on the property. In starting the fire at 108 3rd Street, Waterford, New York, on June 1, 2010, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR’s sole intent was not to destroy the building for a lawful or proper purpose. Moreover, PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR. had a reasonable ground to believe that his conduct might endanger the life or safety of another person or damage another building.

At the time of their crimes, the ARCHAMBAULTS shared a residence in Waterford, New York. A search warrant was executed at this residence on September 22, 2009, based on information concerning PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, JR.’s conduct. While this search warrant was being executed, the evidence concerning PAUL F. ARCHAMBAULT, SR.’s crimes was discovered. Both men were arrested the day the search warrant was executed at their residence. United States Attorney Hartunian stated: “These prosecutions, arising from a joint investigations by federal and local law enforcement authorities, reflect our deep commitment to work together to target sexual abusers and pornographers who prey on the most innocent and vulnerable of our society–our children.”

The case was investigated by the Colonie Police Department, with assistance from the FBI’s Cyber Predator Task Force and the Waterford Police Department.