Skaneateles Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years for Child Pornography Convictions

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Marc L. Leonardis, age 50, of Skaneateles, New York, was sentenced today to serve 188 months in prison for receiving child pornography within online groups designed for trading images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

As a part of his earlier guilty plea, Leonardis admitted that he surreptitiously took images of a child and posted the images, more than 200 times, to three online trading groups, receiving images depicting the sexual exploitation of children in return.  Leonardis also admitted chatting with members of the trading groups, including an undercover FBI agent, about his ongoing sexual abuse of the child whose pictures he shared.

In addition to the 188-month prison sentence, Hon. David N. Hurd sentenced to Leonardis to 15 years supervised release, which will commence upon his release from prison, ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to each of two victims of the pornography he received, and to pay a total of $5,100 in special assessments.  Leonardis will also be required to register as a sex offender. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Capital Area and Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Forces, in cooperation the Colonie Police Department, Rotterdam Police Department, and the New York State Police.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York, prosecuted the case.

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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.