Fulton Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography Offenses

SYRACUSE, NY—United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced that Leonard Allen, age 46, of Fulton, New York, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Syracuse following his earlier guilty plea in January 2012 to knowingly distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography via the Internet.

United States District Court Judge Hon. Norman A. Mordue sentenced Allen to concurrent terms of imprisonment of 240 months’ imprisonment for distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography. Following his term of incarceration, Allen will be placed on supervised release for life, and he will be required to register as a sex offender.

Allen’s arrest came after he sent images of child pornography to an undercover police officer in Keene, New Hampshire, in 2010. Based upon that information, the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Allen’s Fulton residence and found that Allen had been distributing child pornography to others on the Internet and that he had downloaded and collected thousands of images and videos depicting children in engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Allen’s arrest is the result of an investigation by the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office; the Keene, New Hampshire Police Department; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher.

Allen was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office as 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.