Upstate New York man sentenced for producing and possessing child pornography

ALBANY, N.Y. — An upstate New York man was sentenced Tuesday to 60 years in federal prison, to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release, for producing and possessing images and videos of child pornography. The sentence is the result of an extensive investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Nathan Brown, 33, of Fulton County, N.Y., was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe. Brown, who had previously pleaded guilty June 19, 2012, was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims, forfeit various computer equipment and have no unsupervised contact with minors. After release, he will be required to register with the New York State Sex Offender Registry Program.

Between January 2010 and November 2011, Brown produced still images and videos of three different children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. On March 9, 2012, pursuant to a federal search warrant, investigators searched Brown's residence and recovered several computers and smart phones. In addition to the child pornography images and videos actually produced by Brown, over 150,000 still images and 1,500 videos containing child pornography, depicting children from throughout the nation, were recovered during the forensic examinations of the computer media seized.

"Child pornography is not a victimless crime," said Nick DiNicola, assistant special agent in charge of HSI Albany. "It preys on the most vulnerable and innocent segment of society - our children. Protecting children from dangerous online predators is one HSI's highest priorities. With a partnership like the one we enjoy with the New York State Police, predators can't hope to hide in cyberspace for long."

"These prosecutions, arising from joint investigations by federal and local law enforcement authorities, reflect our deep commitment to work together to target sexual abusers and pornographers," said U.S. Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, Northern District of New York.

HSI received assistance from the New York State Police, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Air Branch in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and HSI's Cyber Crimes Center in Fairfax, Va.