UTICA, NEW YORK - Richard Michael Lydon, age 67, of Skaneateles Falls, New York, was sentenced today to 90 months in prison for distributing and possessing child pornography.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
As part of his guilty plea, Lydon admitted that he distributed and possessed images of child pornography that he acquired in part using an Internet peer-to-peer, file-sharing program. A search of Lydon’s residence in November 2015 led to the discovery of over 1,400 videos and over 8,000 images depicting child pornography. Lydon admitted that he had been collecting child pornography for over a decade
United States District Judge David N. Hurd, in imposing the sentence, noted that what Lydon possessed was one of the largest collections of child pornography he had ever sentenced a person for distributing and possessing. Judge Hurd also imposed a lifetime of supervised release, which will start after Lydon is released from prison, and ordered the payment of $3,300 in restitution to child pornography victims. As a result of his conviction, Lydon will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
This case was investigated by HSI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carina Schoenberger as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
