Buffalo Man Indicted on Child Pornography Charges

BUFFALO, NY—A federal grand jury in Buffalo has returned a 19-count Indictment charging John C. Scott, 53, of Buffalo, NY with possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both for each count.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango stated that the Indictment charges the defendant with possessing child pornography on four CD-Roms and 15 floppy disks, all of which were found in a shed at the defendant’s residence. The disks contained approximately 555 image files and 29 movie files of child pornography. Several of the images and videos depicted victims known to law enforcement that originated in the States of Texas, Georgia, Florida, and Illinois, and from the countries of France, Germany, England, and Brazil.

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 Indictment 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 James H. Robertson and Detectives of the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson. The evidence was presented to the Grand Jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who will handle the trial of the case.

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.