Clifton Park Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Eric William Tompkins, age 37, of Clifton Park, New York, pled guilty today to possession of child pornography.   The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

As part of his guilty plea before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy, Tompkins, a registered sex offender, admitted that on March 28, 2019, he possessed child pornography images on his cellular phone that included depictions of prepubescent children.

Tompkins faces at least 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, when he is sentenced on December 15, 2021.  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. 

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service and the New York State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Williams. 

This case is prosecuted 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.