Rensselaer County Sex Offender Arrested for Sexually Exploiting a Child, Receiving Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Zachary Cota, age 29, of Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, was arrested today for sexually exploiting a child and receiving child pornography.  United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

A criminal complaint alleges that between May 27, 2022 and June 7, 2022, Cota sexually exploited an 8-year-old child residing outside of New York State and also received child pornography.

The charges in the criminal complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Cota appeared today in Albany, before United States Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel, and was ordered detained pending further proceedings.

Upon conviction, the charges filed against Cota carry a mandatory minimum term of 25 years in prison and a maximum of 90 years in prison, as well as a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.  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.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Rotterdam, Troy, and Colonie Police Departments and the New York State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan S. Reiner and Rachel L. Williams are 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.