Buffalo Man Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Paul Hackett, 45, of Buffalo, N.Y., has been charged in a criminal complaint with possession of child pornography. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that defendant was charged after evidence was obtained that indicated that over the past 14 years, the defendant has been sexually molesting a female victim. The sexual abuse began when the victim was approximately 14 years old, and continued until October of 2011. The victim, who is now 28 years old, was impregnated by the defendant when she was approximately 15 years old. On October, 7, 2011, the defendant was arrested by the Buffalo Police Department and admitted that he used psychological pressure to force the victim to have sexual intercourse with him. Following the defendant’s arrest, 68 Polaroid photographs were found in the defendant’s residence, many of which depict the victim engaging in sexually explicit conduct at a time when she was under the age of 18. An initial appearance on the criminal complaint will be scheduled for next week before Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy.

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 criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge, Christopher M. Piehota, and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.