Investigation Online Led to Search Warrant at Defendant’s Residence
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Richard S. Buffham, 49, of West Monroe, New York, was sentenced today to serve 262 months in prison for distributing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The conviction was the result of a joint investigation by HSI, the New York State Police Troop D Computer Crime Unit, and the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI-Pulaski).
As part of his guilty plea, Buffham admitted that he distributed images of child pornography in an online chat group on Sept. 23, 2015, Sept. 24, 2015, and Sept. 27, 2015. A search warrant of the defendant’s home and computer was executed on June 16, 2016, leading to the recovery of evidence.
Senior United States District Judge Norman A. Mordue also imposed a lifetime term of supervised release, which will start after Buffham is released from prison, and ordered payment of a $300 special assessment. As a result of his conviction, Buffham will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. 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.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Geoffrey Brown.
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
