Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 23, 2012 |
ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jeffrey Duncan, 31, of Rochester, N.Y., pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography before U.S. District Court Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant used his computer to obtain and view hundreds of images of child pornography over the Internet. The images included depictions of minors being subjected to violence. 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 plea is the result of investigative efforts by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 23, 2012, at 4:00 p.m., before Judge Siragusa.