Herkimer County Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Pornography Offenses

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Daniel M. Passero, Jr., age 35, formerly of Herkimer County, New York, was sentenced today in federal court in Binghamton to serve 20 years in prison for receiving and possessing child pornography.

The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, by Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

During Passero’s July 2019 jury trial, the evidence demonstrated that Passero downloaded hundreds of sexually explicit images of children and saved them to a memory card that was later found in a smartphone recovered at Passero’s home. At the time of the offense, Passero was on parole for a prior sex offense against a child, as a result of which he has been designated a Level 3 sexually violent offender by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, Sex Offender Registry.

At sentencing, Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy found that Passero had engaged in a pattern of sexual exploitation of children, in that Passero had sexually abused at least two minor children. In addition to the 20-year prison term, Judge McAvoy imposed a 20-year term of supervised release, which will start after Passero is released from prison. Judge McAvoy also ordered Passero to pay $3,000 in restitution to each of four individual victims.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and the New York State Police, with assistance from the Gloversville Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Burlington Police Department, and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations. 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael F. Perry and Kristen Grabowski, as a 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.