Man Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

BUFFALO, N.Y.—Jonathan Armstrong, 23, of Buffalo, New York, who was convicted of two counts of possession of child pornography on Jan. 5, 2009, was sentenced principally to an 87-month term of incarceration by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, Acting U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala, who handled the case, stated that the defendant’s conviction for possession of child pornography was based upon a file from his computer that was sent to another computer by use of Limewire, a peer-2-peer software application that allows files to be shared, and by the fact that child pornography images were located on computer disks at his home. In his plea agreement, Armstrong admitted that between 300 to 599 images of child pornography were on his computer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Laurie J. Bennett.