Schenectady Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Richard Nejame, age 29, of Schenectady, New York, pled guilty today to five counts of receiving and attempting to receive child pornography.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

Nejame admitted that between about October 2022 and May 1, 2023, he communicated with several girls over social media applications, including Snapchat, while pretending to be a teenage boy.  During Nejame’s online communications with the minor females, he encouraged them to take nude pictures and videos of themselves, and to then send the pictures and videos to him.  Once in receipt of the nude pictures and videos of the minor females, Nejame directed the girls to take more sexually explicit pictures and videos of themselves, and to send those sexually explicit pictures and videos to him. He also threatened that if the girls did not comply with his demands, Nejame would embarrass and expose the girls by publishing their pictures and videos on the Internet. 

At sentencing on August 14, 2024, before United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, Nejame faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison.  The judge will also be required to impose a term of post-release supervision of at least 5 years and up to life.  The court may also impose a fine, restitution, and forfeiture of the phones and computers Nejame used to commit his offenses.  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.  Nejame will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. 

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Belliss and Benjamin S. Clark 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.