David Renz Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offenses
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 04, 2013 |
SYRACUSE, NY—David J. Renz, 29, of North Syracuse, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Syracuse today to all counts of a six-count indictment charging him with receipt and possession of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian.
By his plea, Renz admitted that when FBI agents interviewed him in June 2012, he consented to their search of a computer he used to download and store child pornography. He was arrested in January 2013 after agents located more than 500 video files and more than 3,000 image files depicting child pornography on his computer. Renz also pled guilty to five counts of possession of child pornography related to images and videos he possessed on DVDs and a CD seized from his residence on the date of his arrest.
Upon sentencing, Renz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for the charge of receiving child pornography; and a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each of the possession charges. In addition, he faces fines of up to $250,000 on each count and mandatory supervised release of no less than five years and up to life following any term of incarceration. In addition, conviction of the charged offenses will require Renz to register as a sex offender. Sentencing is scheduled for February10, 2014.
Renz’s arrest was the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices, 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 federal prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher, who can be reached at 448-0672.