Albany Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Charges

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Paul A. Light, age 46, of Albany, New York, pled guilty today to distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Light maintained a collection of least 5,027 image files and 597 video files containing child pornography stored on at least 9 different computers and external hard drives. Using an online file-sharing website, Light distributed and received child pornography on at least 7 occasions from approximately March 28, 2015 through October 26, 2015.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 24, 2017 before Senior United States Judge Gary L. Sharpe. Light faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, at least 5 years and up to lifetime post-imprisonment supervised release, and a maximum $250,000 fine. He will also have to register as a sex offender when he is released from prison. 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 was investigated by HSI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Solomon B. Shinerock.

This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.