Pittsford Man Pleads Guilty in Child Pornography Case

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jeffrey Bernecky, 22, of Pittsford, New York, pleaded guilty to the knowing distribution of child pornography and the knowing possession of child pornography before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer. Distribution of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison, a maximum of 20 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 U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that a search warrant was executed at Bernecky’s residence on Lehigh Station Road in Pittsford by the FBI’s Cyber Crime Task Force. The search warrant occurred after undercover agents saw that the defendant was sharing and distributing over 6,000 files totaling over 107 gigabytes of data, which included numerous files and videos with titles indicative of child pornography. Bernecky admitted to downloading images and movies of children engaging in sexually explicit conduct using the file-sharing software.

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 is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Task Force, which includes the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, and special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Richard W. Kollmar, Acting Special Agent in Charge.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 22, 2011 at 2 p.m. before Judge Larimer.