Lewis County Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Nathan Hotchkiss, age 36, of Lewis County, New York, was sentenced today to serve 30 years imprisonment and lifetime post-release supervision for two counts of sexual exploitation of a child. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of United States Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Buffalo, New York Field Office made the announcement. 

As part of Hotchkiss’s previously entered guilty plea, he admitted that, from at least October 2021 through August 2022, he sexually exploited two children under the age of five and livestreamed or distributed depictions of the sexual abuse online for cash. When Hotchkiss was arrested in August 2022, he also had a collection of child pornography he had obtained on the Internet or through social media message exchanges with others.

In addition to the imprisonment and supervised release terms, Hotchkiss was ordered to pay a total of $18,000 in restitution to his victims and to forfeit the electronic devices he used to commit the offenses. Hotchkiss also will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case with the assistance of the New York State Police and the Lewis County District Attorney’s Office as part of Project Safe Childhood. Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Gadarian prosecuted the case.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is 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 locates, 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.