Schoharie County Sex Offender Admits Possessing Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – John C. Hotaling, age 62, of Esperance, New York, pled guilty today, on the eve of trial, to possessing child pornography.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Special Agent in Charge Janeen DiGuiseppi of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli made the announcement.

Hotaling admitted that in 2020, he possessed child pornography images, some of which he created by photoshopping the faces of children onto nude adult bodies engaged in sexually explicit conduct, a process known as “morphing.”  Hotaling was on supervised release at the time for a 2009 conviction for engaging in the same conduct.  He also admitted violating his terms and conditions of supervised release.  Trial in the case was scheduled to begin tomorrow, August 15.

At sentencing on January 4, 2024, before United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby, Hotaling faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and 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 FBI, New York State Police and U.S. Probation Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas Collyer, Ashlyn Miranda and Rick Bellis 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.