Former Rochester Resident Pleads Guilty to Receipt of Child Pornography

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Gordon J. Plugh, 40, formerly of Rochester, New York, pleaded guilty to the receipt of child pornography before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five year in prison, with a maximum of 20 years, and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that in May 2005, the FBI received information that the website of the Great Plains Child Care Resource and Referral (GPCCRR) Center had been hacked and was being used as a repository site for the distribution of child pornography. GPCCRR Center provided web logs that showed the visitors to particular areas of the website. The investigation into Internet Protocol addresses that had visited the hacked website led agents to interview the defendant at his residence in July 2005. Plugh voluntarily gave consent to the FBI agents to search two hard drives in his possession. Forensics performed on the hard drives revealed that they contained numerous images of child pornography.

During the plea proceedings, the defendant admitted to obtaining over 600 images of child pornography using the file-sharing software KaZaa during the period between May 2003 and July 2005.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota.

Sentencing is scheduled for September 5, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.