Massachusetts Resident Pleads Guilty to Traveling to Capital Region to Meet Minor for Sex

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Martin Connearney, age 34, of Lenox, Massachusetts, pled guilty today to traveling across state lines to the Capital Region with the intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor.  United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

Connearney admitted that between April 6, 2022 and May 5, 2022, he communicated with an individual to discuss and plan Connearney’s sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl in the Capital Region.  Connearney and the individual ultimately devised a plan for Connearney to travel from Lenox to the Capital Region so Connearney could engage in sexual contact with the 10-year-old.  On the morning of May 5, 2022, Connearney drove from Lenox to a location in Columbia County, New York, where he was encountered by law enforcement officials at a prearranged location and arrested.

Connearney is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci on May 30, 2024.  He faces a maximum term of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, and mandatory registration as a sex offender.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. Connearney also agreed to forfeit the phone he used to commit the offense.

The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force investigated this case.  The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Clark is prosecuting the case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.