St. Lawrence County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving and Possessing Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Robert LaVair, age 19, of Louisville, New York, pled guilty today to receipt and possession of child pornography announced United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

As part of his guilty plea, LaVair admitted that in January of 2024, he received numerous images and videos of child pornography by downloading them from the dark web.  In addition to child pornography obtained from the internet, LaVair also admitted that he possessed sexually explicit images and videos of a nine-year-old child that he produced while the child was sleeping. 

A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant violated, the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.  However, if Chief United States District Judge Brenda K. Sannes accepts the parties’ agreed-upon disposition at sentencing, scheduled for July 18, 2025, LaVair will receive a federal prison term of between 14 and 15 years to be followed by 15 years of post-release supervision. LaVair will also be required to pay restitution to the children whose images he received and possessed, and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. 

The case was investigated by HSI and the New York State Police and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Adrian S. LaRochelle and Benjamin Gillis as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. 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.