Delaware County Man and Schoharie County Woman Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation of a Child

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Joshua Carey, age 38, of Stamford, New York, and Ariel Machia, age 28, of Middleburgh, New York, were sentenced today to 40 years and 30 years in prison, respectively, for their sexual exploitation of an infant.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Carey and Machia both pled guilty to sexual exploitation of a child in February 2019, admitting that in 2016, they photographed one another engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 1-year-old child.  The couple was arrested for the offense in February 2018, when the images they produced were recovered by law enforcement in an unrelated investigation. They have been detained in federal custody since that time.  

Today, Senior United States District Judge Thomas A. McAvoy sentenced Machia to serve 30 years in prison, followed by 20 years of supervised release.  Carey, who is a registered sex offender with two prior convictions for rape in the second degree, was sentenced to serve a total of 40 years in prison, to be followed by lifetime supervised release.  Both defendants will be required to register with the sex offender registry upon release. 

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, as well as the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, and the New York State Police.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.