Onondaga County Man Sentenced On Child Pornography Charge

CONTACT:  Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX #:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Donald J. Gardner, Jr., 42, of Lafayette, NY, who was convicted of possession of child pornography, was sentenced to serve 24 months in prison and five years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas A. Penrose, who handled the case, stated that in late January 2014 to early February 2014, Gardner pretended to be a 10 to 12 year-old boy and used his Facebook account to solicit child pornography images from three 10 year-old girls in the Town of Niagara, NY. Knowing that the girls were 10 years-old, the defendant directed them to create and send him child pornography images. One of the 10 year-old girls did send Gardner child pornography images via Facebook.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the Direction of Special Agent-in- Charge Gary Loeffert, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff James R. Voutour.