Sex Offender Charged with Child Exploitation Offenses

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment today charging MICHAEL SZWARC, 36, of Derby, with child exploitation offenses.

As alleged in the indictment and in court filings, Szwarc was convicted in 2013 in state court of possession of child pornography in the second degree, and in 2022 in federal court of receipt of child pornography.  In January 2024, while Szwarc was on federal supervised release, his federal probation officer conducted an unannounced visit to his home and discovered him in possession of an unauthorized laptop.  The probation officer seized the laptop.  A subsequent examination of the device by the FBI revealed multiple images of child pornography.

The indictment charges Szwarc with receipt of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 40 years, and with possessing and accessing with intent to view child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  The penalties in this matter are enhanced because of Szwarc’s prior federal and state convictions for possessing child pornography.

Szwarc has been detained since his arrest on February 9, 2024.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.