Youngstown Man Sentenced in Child Pornography Case

BUFFALO, NY—Joseph Peter Moon, 49 of Youngstown, New York, who was convicted of receiving child pornography on August 27, 2009, was sentenced to 72 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, U.S. Attorney Kathleen M. Mehltretter of the Western District of New York announced today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that between June 8, 2008, and October 8, 2008, in the Western District of New York, the defendant knowingly received child pornography on his computer. The defendant had approximately eight videos of child pornography on his computers at his residence in Youngstown, New York.

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 the New York State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit under the direction of Captain Frank Pace. Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Buffalo, New York Headquarters, under the direction of James H. Robertson, Special Agent In Charge, assisted with bringing the federal prosecution.