Customs and Border Protection Supervisor Sentenced for Possession of Child Pornography

          BUFFALO, N.Y.– U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Steven Metz, 42, of Hamburg, N.Y. who was convicted of possession of child pornography, was sentenced to five years in prison and five years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William M. Skretny. The judge ordered that the defendant be remanded immediately.

                Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that on October 25, 2012, the defendant, a supervisor with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, was found in possession of approximately 3000 images and 70 videos of child pornography on his computer at his residence in Hamburg. Some of these files contained depictions of violence, and some of the children shown in the images and videos were prepubescent children as young as three years old. As a result of this conviction, the defendant will no longer be employed by the federal agency.

                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 sentencing is 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.