BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Kevin James Fox, 60, of Limestone, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with production and receipt of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 50 years, and a fine of $250,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney, Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, beginning in April of 2016, the defendant created multiple online personas. Fox also obtained phone numbers using publically available apps that allow a user with an internet connected tablet or smart phone to obtain a user selected, non-assigned phone number.
Using these phone numbers, the defendant then began communicating, via text messages, with an ex-girlfriend. In these text messages that the ex-girlfriend believed were coming from unknown individuals, Fox convinced the ex-girlfriend that she was in physical danger from organized crime. The defendant manipulated the ex-girlfriend into believing that the only way she could get out of danger was to have explicit sexual contact with her 17-year-old son, and to take photographs of the sexual activity.
On June 10 and June 21, 2016, the ex-girlfriend engaged in explicit sexual contact with her 17-year-old son, produced images and videos of this contact, and sent the images and videos via text messages to phone numbers controlled by the defendant.
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder, Jr. and is being detained pending a detention hearing on July 6, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.
The criminal complaint is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Adam S. Cohen, Special Agent in Charge along with the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Timothy Whitcomb.
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
