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Press Release

Greece Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Possesion of Child Pornography

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
 

ROCHESTER, N.Y.--U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Gordon Link, 77, of Greece, N.Y., pleaded guilty to attempted possession of child pornography before U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who is handling the case, stated that in October 2013, a woman texted a photograph of her 10 year old daughter to a friend via her cellular phone. The photograph depicted the young child, fully clothed, seated at a table with a doll at her birthday party. However, the wife mistakenly sent the child’s photograph to the wrong cell phone number. That cellphone belonged to the defendant.

Link immediately sent several sexually suggestive texts back to the woman about the child’s image. The woman became concerned and contacted the police, who in turn, contacted the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force for assistance. A federal task force officer assigned to the unit assumed the child’s identity online, claiming to be 15 years old, and engaged in chats with the defendant. During several sessions, Link solicited the girl to send him sexually explicit photographs of her body. The defendant also engaged in sexually explicit chats with the girl and tried to meet her in person. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Link’s home and seized the cell phone the defendant used to communicate with the child.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Officers of the Greece Police Department, under the direction of Chief Patrick Phelan; Officers of the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli; and Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Child Exploitation Task Force.

Sentencing is scheduled for November 19, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.

 

Updated November 19, 2014