Mayfield Man Pleads Guilty to Production of Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – RICHARD HASTINGS, 19, of Mayfield, NY entered a plea of guilty in Albany today to production and possession of child pornography before Chief United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, Nicolas DiNicola, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, and Captain Timothy Munro, New York State Police Troop G, Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Sentencing is set for June 3, 2015 at 10 AM.

In July 2013, RICHARD HASTINGS produced sexually explicit photographs of a minor victim and e-mailed some of these photographs to an undercover law enforcement officer in an effort to trade them for additional images of child pornography. On August 8, 2013, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at the defendant’s Mayfield residence and seized his computer which contained the images of the minor victim and additional images of child pornography. As a result, he was placed under arrest. His brother, ROBERT HASTINGS, was also charged with federal child pornography offenses and is currently awaiting trial.

*The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

RICHARD HASTINGS faces a statutory minimum of fifteen years of imprisonment, a maximum sentence of thirty years of imprisonment, and a maximum fine of $250,000. He will remain in custody until sentencing.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the New York State Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean O’Dowd, as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, and 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