Federal Grand Jury Indicts Tonawanda Man On Production And Distribution Of Child Pornography Charges And Destroying Evidence

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Michael E. Swain, 35, of Tonawanda, NY, with production and distribution of child pornography and corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing evidence. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 30 years, and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Raymond J. Fadel, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, the Tonawanda Police Department received a report that a minor female was the victim of coercion involving Swain. The investigation determined that Swain had been communicating on the Discord social media app with the victim for a long period of time. At his request, the victim sent numerous images and videos of herself to Swain, including some sexually explicit images. At times, Swain would threaten to release the images to family and friends of the victim. Investigators executed a search warrant at Swain’s residence and seized a cell phone, thumb drive, desktop computer, laptop computer, and an SD card. According to the indictment, when investigators arrived to execute the search warrant, Swain allegedly factory reset his cell phone, which can cause the data that was on the device to be deleted and unrecoverable.  

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Stauffiger, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Buffalo Office Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Eugene Staniszewski.     

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.        

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