Damian Quillinan, a 50-year-old resident of Broadalbin, New York, has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for possessing an image of child sexual exploitation material. This occurred while he was under post-release supervision for previous child pornography offenses. The announcement was made by United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo Field Office.
“One image is all it takes,” stated U.S. Attorney Sarcone. “We will relentlessly pursue justice against those who exploit children. We thank the U.S. Probation Office and HSI for catching this sick individual and immediately putting him back where he belongs – in custody.”
HSI Special Agent in Charge Keegan added: "The defendant, a registered sex offender, exploited technology for his own perverse desires and explicit crimes. Together with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York and our law enforcement partners, HSI Albany will not stand idly by as child predators seek new ways to target our most vulnerable communities."
Quillinan pled guilty to possession of child pornography this past January while serving a lifetime supervised release for prior convictions related to receipt and possession of child pornography. He admitted to violating his supervised release terms by committing the new offense and possessing unauthorized internet-capable devices.
In January 2024, shortly after being released from incarceration on previous offenses, Quillinan manipulated a video of a prepubescent minor obtained over the internet to create an explicit image which he possessed until it was seized during a search in September 2024.
U.S. District Court Judge Mae A. D’Agostino sentenced Quillinan to ten years for the new conviction and an additional two years for violating his supervised release terms. He was also ordered to forfeit the tablet used in connection with the offense and will serve twenty years of supervised release following his prison term.
This case was investigated by HSI with assistance from the U.S. Probation Office and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Clark as part of Project Safe Childhood.
Project Safe Childhood is an initiative aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse nationwide by marshaling federal, state, and local resources to apprehend individuals exploiting children via the Internet.
