Kenneth Koegel, Jr., a 40-year-old resident of Baldwinsville, New York, has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison. The sentencing follows his guilty plea to multiple charges including sexual exploitation of a child, distribution and receipt of child pornography, and commission of a felony offense involving a minor by a registered sex offender. This was announced by Acting United States Attorney Daniel Hanlon and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Koegel's guilty plea included an admission to a prior conviction in 2004 for first-degree sexual abuse involving a 6-year-old girl. He was required to register as a sex offender due to this conviction. Further admissions revealed that from around 2014 until October 2022, Koegel sexually abused another girl from when she was about 2 years old until she was approximately 9 years old. During this period, he created explicit images and videos documenting the abuse and distributed these materials through social messaging applications.
In addition to his prison sentence and lifetime supervision upon release, Koegel is ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution along with a $1,000 special assessment. He will also be required to register as a sex offender following his release.
The case against Koegel was investigated by the FBI’s Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which includes FBI Special Agents and local police investigators such as those from the New York State Police. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael D. Gadarian and Adrian S. LaRochelle prosecuted the case under Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is an initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide. It coordinates resources at federal, state, and local levels to locate offenders who exploit children online while identifying victims for rescue efforts.
For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
