Repeat Albany Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Possession

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Terry L. Shellenberger, age 50, of Albany, pled guilty today to child pornography possession, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith.

Shellenberger admitted that on July 21, 2018, while on supervised release for a prior federal felony conviction, he was in possession of a phone that he used to download child pornography videos from the internet.  Shellenberger had not previously informed Probation Officers that he had the phone, as he was required to do.  Probation Officers found it during an unannounced home visit. 

Shellenberger has prior federal convictions for child pornography possession (2006) and failure to register as a sex offender (2017). 

Shellenberger, who is in custody, faces at least 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, as well as a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life, when he is sentenced on September 4, 2019 by Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn.  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 United States Probation Office for the Northern District of New York, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett.

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood.  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.