Man Indicted on Charges of Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury in Buffalo has returned a two-count indictment charging Anthony F. Amato, Jr., 38, of Tonawanda, NY, with distribution and possession of child pornography.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, the defendant distributed two images of child pornography in October 2007. The indictment further alleges that in December 2007, he possessed a Compaq Presario computer that contained images of child pornography. In a complaint that had previously been filed, it is alleged that the defendant distributed the images over the Internet using a peer-to-peer file-sharing program. Amato’s computer was seized following the execution of a search warrant at his residence on December 17, 2007. The defendant has been released on bail.

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 Indictment is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Christopher M. Piehota, Special Agent in Charge, and the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda. Additional assistance was provided by the Western New York Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, which conducted the forensic analysis of the computer.

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.