Federal grand jury indicts Chautauqua County man for attempted production of child pornography

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Jose Perez, 40, of Celeron, NY, with attempted production of child pornography and possession of child pornography, which carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 80 years, and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Rudroff, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed criminal complaint, on September 3, 2022, Homeland Security Investigations received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that Perez uploaded a file a suspected child pornography. On December 15, 2022, HSI executed a federal search warrant at Perez’s residence, seizing computers, a cellular telephone, and electronic storage devices, including a thumb drive, which contained two video files that appeared to be taken from a videocam located in Perez’s bathroom. One of the files included video of a naked minor victim who does not appear to be aware that the camera is present. In addition, the thumb drive contained 17,839 image files that appeared to be taken from the same bathroom videocam and included naked images of the minor victim. Images and videos of child pornography were also found on Perez’s cell phone.

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff James Quattrone, and Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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