Ulster County Sex Offender Sentenced to 10 Years for Child Pornography Possession

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Shawn Wetzel, age 39, of Highland, New York, was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for possession of 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.

Wetzel previously pled guilty before Senior United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe.  Wetzel admitted that he had previously pled guilty in Georgia to receipt of child pornography and was sentenced to 67 months of incarceration, to be followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.  In September 2021, approximately 16 months after his release from prison, and while he was under supervised release, Probation officers conducted an inspection of Wetzel’s residence in Ulster County.  In the course of that inspection, Wetzel was found to be in possession of approximately 10 child pornography image files and one child pornography video, depicting children as young as 7 years old.

After Wetzel is released from prison, he will be required to serve a 30-year term of post-release supervision.

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including the Colonie Police Department and New York State Police.  Former Assistant United States Attorney Rachel L. Williams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin S. Clark prosecuted 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.