Rensselaer Man Sentenced to 20 Years for Distribution and Receipt of Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Bruce Williams, age 38, was sentenced today to 240 months in prison for distributing and receiving child pornography.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

As part of his guilty plea, Williams admitted that he knowingly received and distributed child pornography over the internet using peer-to-peer file sharing software.  A search warrant executed at Williams’s house revealed that he possessed, on electronic devices, 122 video files and 400 image files that depicted child pornography.

Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy also imposed a life term of supervised release, which will start after Williams is released from prison, and ordered a payment of $5,000 in restitution to child pornography victims. As a result of his conviction, Williams will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

This case was investigated by the New York State Police-Computer Crimes Unit, Colonie Police Department, Rensselaer Police Department, and the FBI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood.  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 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.