Jake Alexander Cruse, Child Pornography Distribution, New York 2020

A Troy man has been sentenced to 125 months in prison for distributing child pornography.

Jake Alexander Cruse, 33, of Troy, New York, was sentenced today to serve 125 months in prison for distributing, transporting and receiving child pornography.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Cruse pled guilty on March 10, 2020. As part of his guilty plea, Cruse admitted that, between July and October 2018, he used phone-based messaging and file-sharing applications to trade child pornography with others.

Cruse admitted to creating multiple fake social media accounts for the purposes of making money selling child pornography and trading for additional child pornography files. Cruse's phone and various online accounts contained approximately 120 video files and 234 image files depicting the sexual exploitation of children.

United States District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino also sentenced Cruse to a 15-year term of supervised release, to begin following his term of imprisonment, and ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution to one of the victims depicted in the materials he possessed.

Cruse will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. This case was investigated by the FBI's Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the New York State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emmet O'Hanlon.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/troy-man-sentenced-125-months-distributing-child-pornography