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Press Release
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Jordan Valle, age 26, of Schenectady, New York, pled guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
As part of his guilty plea Valle admitted that, from at least October 2021 through December 2022, he pretended to be a hacker online and threatened to delete or takeover the social media accounts of multiple minor females aged approximately 10-15 years old if they did not send him sexually explicit material. Several children complied with his demands and sent him sexually explicit videos of themselves urinating or masturbating. In December 2022, Valle also had a collection of child pornography he obtained on the internet saved onto his computer at his home.
Sentencing is scheduled for August 17, 2023, in Albany, New York before United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci. Valle faces a minimum sentence of 15 years and up to 30 years in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child count and up to 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography. He also will also be required to serve at least 5 years and up to a life term on supervised release after his imprisonment term ends, at which time he will be required to register as a sex offender. Valle also will be required to forfeit the devices he used to commit the offenses to the United States and must pay restitution to his victims. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statutes the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Upper Allen Township Police Department, and the New York State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian.
This case is being 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), and is designed to marshal 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.