Niagara Falls Man Previously Charged with Kidnapping Children is Sentenced to 45 Years for Producing Child Pornography

BUFFALO—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that James Paul Summers, 30, of Niagara Falls, New York, who was convicted of production of child pornography and possession of child pornography, was sentenced to 45 years in prison and lifetime supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant took pornographic images of a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old. Some of the images were taken in his apartment on Pierce Avenue in Niagara Falls and others were taken in a car. Summers also possessed child pornography on his computer that he obtained from the Internet and distributed child pornography over the Internet using his Yahoo account, Slide.com, and YouTube.

In 1998, after being charged with attempting to abduct young girls on different occasions at the Wildwood Acres in the Town of Niagara and Leisure Acres in the Town of Lockport, Summers pleaded guilty to burglary. He was just 15 years old when he took a 4-year-old out of her bedroom. Summers was sentenced to two-and-one-third to seven years in state prison on that occasion.

United States Attorney Hochul stated, “This case demonstrates why all of us need to continue to be vigilant when it comes to protecting our most vulnerable citizens from predators. While the precise count of conviction is production of child pornography, the underlying facts indicate the true heinousness of the defendant’s conduct toward defenseless children.”

Judge Skretny noted during the sentencing that this was one of the most egregious cases that he has seen since he’s been on the bench.

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 sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Niagara County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Leonard Guagliano, under the direction of Sheriff James Voutour; the Niagara County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Michael J. Violante; special sgents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota; the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force; the Western New York Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory; and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda.