Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Produce Child Pornography

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul announced that Jeffrey T. Swartz, 27, of Henrietta, NY, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to one count of attempted production of child pornography which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years and a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who handled the case, stated that the defendant admitted that between February 2005 and July 2005, he had attempted to persuade, induce and entice an individual under the age of 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing visual depictions of such conduct, namely digital images. Lee says Larimer also admitted that he knew or had reason to believe the images would be transported in interstate and foreign commerce by computer, specifically via the Internet.

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 the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of James Robertson, Special Agent in Charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 17, 2010 at 9:30 a.m., in Rochester, NY, in front of Judge Larimer.