Wayne County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charge

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Edward Lewis, 69, of Ontario, New York, pleaded guilty to the knowing possession of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that a search warrant was executed at the residence the defendant shared with his son, Steven, on Knickerbocker Road by members of the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit. Officers discovered images of child pornography on a computer belonging to Lewis. The search warrant occurred after the New York State investigator was able to download images of child pornography from the Internet protocol address subscribed by Steven Lewis.

Steven Lewis pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in June 2012, and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 5, 2012.

As part of the plea agreement, Edward Lewis agreed to surrender $85,000 to the United States in lieu of forfeiture of his home on Knickerbocker Road.

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 under the direction of Christopher M. Piehota, Special Agent in Charge; and the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit, under the direction of Captain Frank Pace.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 3, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. before Judge Siragusa.