Man Pleads Guilty To Distributing Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Adam Rey Gonzalez, 28, of Schenectady, New York, pled guilty today in Albany before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy to one count of distribution of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Andrew W. Vale, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"This case demonstrates that even sophisticated traders of child pornography will be identified and prosecuted," stated United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. "My office, working with our law enforcement partners, will use every tool at its disposal to track down and prosecute those who share movies and photographs depicting the sexual abuse of young children."

"Today’s guilty plea was the result of a diligent investigation that unraveled the web in which Mr. Gonzalez sought to anonymize his criminal online activities. Others who are engaging in similar online activity should be aware that we can identify them and will pursue criminal charges against them," said Special Agent-in-Charge Andrew W. Vale.

Gonzalez, who has been convicted twice previously for sexual offenses, faces a statutory mandatory minimum term of fifteen years of imprisonment and a maximum sentence of forty years of imprisonment, as well as a lifetime term of supervised release, a maximum fine of $250,000, and mandatory registration as a sex offender. Gonzalez will be sentenced in Albany on August 10, 2015.

As part of his guilty plea, Gonzalez admitted that he used a peer-to-peer file sharing program to distribute movies and photographs of young boys engaged in sexually explicit activity over the Internet. Gonzalez also admitted that he took numerous steps to remain anonymous while trading child pornography online, and that he kept a small computer hidden in his sofa specifically for the purpose of trading child pornography. A forensic examination of that computer ultimately revealed that Gonzalez had nearly a thousand files depicting children as young as age two engaged in sexually explicit conduct that he downloaded from the Internet and regularly traded with others.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Wayne A. Myers, Emily T. Farber, and Special Assistant United States Attorney Amanda W. Cox.