Joseph Hicks, Distributing Child Pornography, New York 2023

Rochester Man Sentenced to 108 Months for Distributing Child Pornography

A Rochester man has been sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for distributing child pornography.

Joseph Hicks, 45, of Rochester, New York, was convicted of distributing child pornography and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa on [Undisclosed Date, 2023].

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, Hicks was identified by federal agents conducting an undercover child pornography investigation.

Agents executed a search warrant at Hicks' Rochester residence and seized his computer, which contained almost 15,000 images and over 400 movies depicting child pornography.

Some of the child pornography images included violence against children, including some as young as infants.

Law enforcement officers also recovered hundreds of chats between Hicks and other online users from around the world during which he offered to trade child pornography with them.

The defendant also gave these other users advice on how to conceal their online activities and how to evade detection by law enforcement.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the United States government.

Hicks will also have to register as a sexual offender.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent In Charge James C. Spero.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdny/pr/rochester-man-sentenced-distributing-child-pornography