Customs and Border Protection Supervisor Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

            BUFFALO, N.Y.– U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Steven Metz, 41, of Hamburg, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny, to Possession of Child Pornography.  The defendant is a former supervisor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection.  The charge carries a maximum possible sentence of ten years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 and a term of supervised release of at least five years to life.

            Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti stated that on or about October 25, 2012, Steven Metz was found to possess images and videos of child pornography on his computer, at his residence in Hamburg, New York.  The defendant possessed over 600 images of child pornography.  Some of these files contained sadistic or masochistic conduct or other depictions of violence, and some of the children shown in the images and videos were prepubescent and under the age of 12 years.  The defendant emailed child pornography to others through the Internet.

            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 Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

            The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero, Special Agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in charge Gregory Null, and officers of the Hamburg Police Department under the direction of Chief Michael K. Williams.