Oswego County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving, Transporting and Possessing Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Joshua Demars, 38, of Fulton, New York, pled guilty today to multiple charges of receipt, transportation, and possession of child pornography. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and New York State Police (NYSP) Acting Superintendent Dominick L. Chiumento made the announcement.

As part of his guilty plea, Demars admitted that he communicated with minors on the application Snapchat to receive images and videos of child pornography. Demars also admitted that he used his Dropbox account to upload a video of a 5-7 year old female being sexually abused by an adult male. Moreover, Demars acknowledged that he possessed hundreds of videos and images of child pornography on several of his personal devices.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 19, 2023, before Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes.  Demars faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of between five years and life, to begin after imprisonment. Demars will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release 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.

HSI, the NYSP Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the NYSP Troop D Computer Crimes Unit investigated the case and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Tuck and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Carbone prosecuted Demars as part of Project Safe Childhood. 

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.