Home Buffalo Press Releases 2010 Man Pleads Guilty in Possession of Child Pornography Case
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Man Pleads Guilty in Possession of Child Pornography Case

U.S. Attorney’s Office April 27, 2010
  • Western District of New York (716) 843-5700

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. of the Western District of New York announced today announced that Peter Adrian Ranic III, 40, of Hamburg, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Chief Judge William M. Skretny, to a felony charge of possessing child pornography. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that the defendant on March 30, 2009, possessed an external hard drive that contained approximately 33 images of child pornography. Some of the child pornography possessed by the defendant depicted prepubescent children younger than 12 years of age. As part of the plea agreement, the parties agreed that the defendant’s offense involved the permitting of a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, which results in the application of a more severe federal sentencing guideline.

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 plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of James H. Robertson, Special Agent-in-Charge, and the Town of Hamburg Police Department under the direction of Police Chief Carmen Kesner.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 6, 2010, at 9:00 a.m. EST, in Buffalo, N.Y., in front of U.S. District Chief Judge William M. Skretny.

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