Joshua Carey, 37, of Stamford, New York, and Ariel Machia, 27, of Middleburgh, New York, were booked into federal custody this week on charges of sexually exploiting a 1-year-old child to produce child pornography. The arrest, made on February 22, marks one of the most disturbing child exploitation cases to emerge from upstate New York in recent months.
According to federal prosecutors, the pair used an infant—barely old enough to crawl—as the subject of illicit visual material. U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Vadim D. Thomas, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Albany Field Office, confirmed the charges, which stem from a multi-agency investigation that uncovered digital evidence linking both defendants to the abuse.
Carey and Machia appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel on February 23 and were ordered held without bond pending trial. Both remain in federal custody as investigators continue to analyze electronic devices seized during the probe. The complaint, while not detailing the full extent of the material, alleges the production of explicit imagery involving the child.
If convicted, Carey faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of 50 years behind bars. He also risks a lifetime of supervised release after incarceration and a $250,000 fine. Machia faces a steeper mandatory minimum than typical first-time offenders—15 years—and up to 30 years in prison, plus a potential lifetime of post-release supervision and the same $250,000 fine.
The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force led the investigation, with critical support from the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Office, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, and the New York State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph A. Giovannetti is prosecuting the case, which falls under the umbrella of Project Safe Childhood—a Justice Department initiative launched in 2006 to combat online child exploitation.
Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to track down predators, dismantle networks, and rescue victims. The case against Carey and Machia underscores the program’s ongoing relevance in an era where digital evidence plays a central role in prosecuting the most heinous crimes against children. The defendants remain presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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