Sarah Gates, Child Sexual Exploitation, New York 2021

Sarah Gates, a 39-year-old woman from Cortland, New York, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to sexually exploit and sexually exploiting a child under five years of age for the purpose of producing images of the abuse. This heinous crime occurred in 2017.

Gates admitted to taking photographs of the child’s abuse using two cell phones, along with her accomplice, Christopher M. Perry. Perry had previously pleaded guilty to the same offenses on April 9, 2020, and was sentenced to serve 540 months (45 years) in federal prison on November 3, 2020.

Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy will sentence Gates on July 28, 2021. Each of the three crimes to which Gates pled guilty carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.

Gates will also be required to register as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the City of Cortland Police Department, and the New York State Police-Computer Crimes Unit, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sahar L. Amandolare and Special Assistant United States Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is a federal initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government to combat child exploitation and abuse. The program is designed to marshal 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. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Gates’ crimes are a stark reminder of the dangers of child exploitation and the importance of law enforcement efforts to prevent such abuses. The Grimy Times will continue to follow this case and provide updates on Gates’ sentencing and any other developments.

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