BUFFALO, NY -- United States Attorney Terrance P. Flynn announced today that Thomas Farnham, 53, of Mayville, New York, who pled guilty to possession of child pornography on April 6, 2006, was sentenced to the statutory maximum term of imprisonment, ten (10) years to be served in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and a ten (10) year term of supervised release by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison P. Gioia who handled today's sentencing said that the defendant admitted to possessing more than 600 images of child pornography on a computer and on compact disks that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents found in his home last November. In addition, some of the images possessed by Farnham portrayed sadistic conduct that would ordinarily cause physical pain to the children depicted therein. After Farnham was charged in a Criminal Complaint last November, ICE Agents learned that Farnham had sexually abused a teen-aged boy approximately twenty years ago. Farnham was never charged with the abuse of the boy, however, when he entered his plea of guilty on April 6, 2006, Farnham admitted to abusing the boy.

In addition to the ten (10) year term of imprisonment and ten (10) year term of supervised release, Farnham will be required to register as a sex offender and for the ten year term of his supervised release, he will be prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 18 and will also be prohibited from being on any school grounds, playground, park or any area in which children are likely to congregate.

The conviction was the result of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Peter J. Smith.

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