Corning Man Charged with Child Pornography Offenses

ROCHESTER, NY—Bryan Griswold, 19, of Corning, New York, was charged by way of a felony complaint with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography and had his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman, U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today. Production of child pornography carries a penalty of a mandatory minimum term of prison of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years and a fine of $250,000. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany H. Lee stated that the complaint alleges that in June 2009, an investigator from the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit was conducting an investigation regarding peer-to-peer file sharing of images of children being sexually exploited and abused. The investigation led law enforcement to the defendant's residence in Corning, New York. The defendant admitted to New York State Police to downloading child pornography from the Internet using the Limewire peer-to-peer file sharing program. Furthermore, the defendant admitted to possessing sexually explicit images he had taken of two female relatives who were approximately 2 years old. The defendant also admitted that he possessed sexually explicit pictures he had taken of three young girls he had supervised while working as a child care provider at the YMCA in Corning, ranging in age between 2 and 4.

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 criminal complaint was the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the direction of John Robertson, Special Agent in Charge, the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit under the direction of Captain Frank Pace and the Steuben County District Attorney's Office under the direction of John Tunney.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.