Schenectady Man Sentenced to More Than 20 Years for Sexually Exploiting a Child

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Keith Mussenden, age 39, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 262 months in prison for sexually exploiting a child, announced 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).

As part of his guilty plea, Mussenden admitted that between June 2019 and February 2020, he exchanged messages through multiple social media applications with the victim, a then-14-year-old girl who resided outside of New York.  Through these messages, Mussenden persuaded, induced, and enticed the victim to take sexually explicit images of herself and send them to him over the Internet.  Mussenden also sent the victim pictures of his penis in the hopes of obtaining sexually explicit images of the victim in return.  Mussenden further engaged in livestreamed video chats with the victim during which he requested that the victim perform sexual acts while he also engaged in sexual acts.

United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also imposed a 20-year term of supervised release, which will start after Mussenden is released from prison, and ordered total restitution in the amount of $3,057.35.  Mussenden will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of the Rotterdam Police Department and the New York State Police.  The FBI’s Atlanta Field Office assisted in this investigation.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel L. Williams and Dustin C. Segovia 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.