Utica Man Pleads Guilty to Receipt and Possession of Child Pornography

UTICA, NEW YORK – James Caruso, age 57, of Utica, pled guilty yesterday to one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.  The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

As part of his guilty plea, Caruso admitted that he purchased and received images and videos of child pornography from an overseas website. A search of Caruso’s laptop computer revealed that he possessed 131 videos and 32 images depicting child pornography. 

Sentencing is scheduled for November 7, 2019, in Utica.

Caruso faces at least 5 years of imprisonment and up to 20 years of imprisonment on the receipt count and up to 20 years of imprisonment on the possession count.  Sentences of imprisonment may be concurrent or consecutive at the discretion of the Court. 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.  The Court will also impose a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, and Caruso will be required to register as a sex offender. 

Caruso’s case was investigated by HSI and the New York State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.

The case is 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.