U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that John Stuart, a 37-year-old resident of Ransomville, NY, has been sentenced to 36 months in prison and 25 years of supervised release following his conviction for possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor. U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo delivered the sentence and mandated that Stuart register as a sex offender.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who handled the case, revealed that in August 2019, the FBI received information indicating that an online user accessed child sexual abuse material through a website on the Tor network in May 2019. The investigation traced this activity back to Stuart's IP address. In October 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Stuart’s residence and seized multiple electronic devices including two laptops, a cell phone, a hard drive, and a desktop computer tower.
A forensic review uncovered approximately 8,000 videos and about 2,000 images of child pornography on one laptop; around 150 images and one video were found on the second laptop. The cell phone contained roughly 90 images and 150 videos while the hard drive had about 90 images and two videos of similar content. Some materials depicted violence against children.
During the search warrant execution, Stuart admitted to possessing live marijuana plants along with over a pound of dried marijuana ready for use. He was also identified as a chronic marijuana user and was found with three firearms despite being legally prohibited from owning them due to his substance use.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia's direction alongside the Cheektowaga Police Department led by Chief Brian Coons.
