Gates Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography

    Rochester, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Gino A. Sava, 53, of Gates, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer, to possession of child pornography.  The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 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 in April 2013, following a referral from the Enfield, Connecticut Police Department. According to the referral, an individual in Connecticut was found to be trading and discussing images of child pornography with another individual in the Western District of New York via Yahoo! Instant Messenger. As a result of the investigation, members of the FBI’s Cyber Task Force conducted a search warrant at the defendant’s residence and seized numerous items of digital media, including computers and CDs. The images included prepubescent minors and minors being subjected to violence.

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 Federal Bureau of Investigation Cyber Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents, as well as members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Patrick O’Flynn and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli.