Brian T. Whipple, Child Pornography, New York 2022

A Chenango County man has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges, according to authorities.

Brian T. Whipple, 42, of New Berlin, New York, faced a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of 20 years for the receipt offense, as well as a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment for each of the three counts of possession of child pornography.

Whipple used peer-to-peer file sharing programs from 2009 through 2020 to knowingly receive child pornography images and videos, according to the offer of proof filed by the government and admitted to by Whipple during his change of plea hearing.

When Whipple was arrested in June 2020, he had over 5,000 child pornography files (images and videos) on DVDs, a thumb drive, and his cellular telephone, authorities said.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in cooperation with the New York State Police and the Chenango County District Attorney’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice and marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

At sentencing scheduled for June 14, 2022, Whipple faces a maximum fine of up to $250,000 per count, will be required to pay restitution to the victims of his child pornography receipt and possession offenses, and will be required to serve a term of supervised release after imprisonment of between five years and life.

Whipple also will have to register as a sex offender upon his release.

The defendant’s sentence will be imposed by a judge based on the statutes the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

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