Defendant Admits to Distributing, Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Michael Caraher, age 27, of Morrisville, New York, pled guilty today to one count of distribution of child pornography, three counts of receipt of child pornography and four counts of possession of child pornography.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Vadim Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of his guilty plea, Caraher admitted to using a custom-built desktop computer to access child pornography-oriented Internet sites, including at least one on the anonymous “Tor" network, for the purpose of downloading child pornography. Caraher also admitted to using peer-to-peer file-sharing software on a laptop computer to download additional child pornography. Overall, Caraher downloaded and saved over 100 videos and almost one thousand images depicting child pornography. Caraher further admitted to using an instant messaging application on his smartphone to trade the child pornography he had downloaded with other users.
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 16, 2018, in Syracuse, New York.
Caraher, who is detained in custody pending sentencing, faces a minimum term of imprisonment of five (5) years on the charges for distribution and receipt of child pornography. Caraher faces a maximum term of imprisonment of twenty (20) years on all eight counts. The Court is also required to impose a term of supervised release between five (5) years and life, and Caraher will be required to register as a sex offender. 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 investigated by the Albany Division of the FBI (Syracuse Resident Agency), and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emmet O’Hanlon.
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
