Donald J. Gardner Jr., 42, of Lafayette, New York, has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography—a crime he weaponized through Facebook to target some of the most vulnerable victims: 10-year-old girls.
Gardner admitted to posing as a child between 10 and 12 years old on Facebook, using the fake identity to manipulate and solicit sexually explicit images from three 10-year-old girls in the Town of Niagara. The deception ran from late January to early February 2014, during which Gardner knowingly directed the minors to produce and send child pornography.
One of the girls complied, sending explicit images through the social media platform. Those images remained in Gardner’s possession until May 7, 2014. Federal prosecutors emphasized that Gardner was fully aware of the victims’ age—highlighting the predatory precision behind his actions.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten and brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York. Gardner pleaded guilty before U.S. District Chief Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr., in Buffalo, locking in a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin P. Lyons, with critical support from the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, directed by Sheriff James R. Voutour. Digital forensics and victim interviews helped dismantle Gardner’s online ruse.
Sentencing is set for May 3, 2018, at 11:30 a.m. in Buffalo federal court. The case underscores the dangerous intersection of social media and child exploitation—a battleground where predators like Gardner operate until caught by relentless federal pursuit.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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