Steuben County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Robert W. Wood, 41, of Painted Post, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer, to possession of child pornography. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa J. Miller, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant came to the attention of law enforcement during the course of an investigation by the New York State Police. Wood was found in possession of a number of digital media items that contained images of child pornography. The defendant admitted to possessing in excess of 600 images, some of which contained depictions of prepubescent children as well as violence against children.

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 special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard W. Kollmar, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Captain Frank Pace.

Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 7, 2011, at 2 p.m. EST, in Rochester, N.Y., before Judge Larimer.