Former Professor Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

BUFFALO—Former D’Youville College sociology professor Philip Michael Gray, 61, of Williamsville, New York, who was convicted of possessing child pornography, was sentenced to 48 months in prison, to be followed by five (5) years supervised release by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr., who handled the case, stated that the defendant had been convicted of using his computer at the college to download numerous images of child pornography, and that college officials discovered the images during the course of a computer upgrade at the school. Kennedy noted that the Judge, in addition to imposing the term of imprisonment, also required Gray to register as a sex offender and to undergo a sex offender treatment program.

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 conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Buffalo Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of James H. Robertson, Special Agent in Charge.