Menands Man Sentenced to Nine Years’ Imprisonment for Child Pornography Offenses

Jonathan MacDonald, 33, of Menands, New York, was sentenced on October 2, 2026 by United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci to 9 years' imprisonment, followed by 15 years' supervised release, for child pornography offenses. First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

MacDonald was charged by indictment in December 2025 with sexually exploiting children, receiving child pornography, and possessing child pornography. In May 2026, MacDonald pled guilty to the counts of receipt and possession of child pornography. MacDonald also admitted that in February 2025 he had filmed himself masturbating on a video call with two minor girls who appeared to be from Thailand, and with whom he had connected using the random video-calling app Omegle.

MacDonald was arrested after he dropped a flash drive of child pornography in the bathroom at his work and law enforcement identified him as the owner.

First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III said: "MacDonald's abuse of a random video-chatting app was dangerous. My office will seek to protect child victims everywhere, even on the other side of the world. MacDonald had previously been investigated for potential child pornography offenses, and we are glad that he has now been successfully prosecuted."

"The fact that Mr. MacDonald brought a flash drive containing child pornography to his workplace illustrates how deeply disturbed his behavior was," said Craig Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Albany Field Office. "This sentence will keep him locked up for almost a decade without access to any other children he can harm through his depraved online activity. The FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is steadfast in our mission to aggressively investigate dangerous predators who are seeking to exploit our children and ensure they are sent to prison for their appalling actions."

In addition to serving a term of prison and supervised release, MacDonald is required to pay a total of $27,000 in restitution to the nine identified victims of his offense.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Walter prosecuted the case.

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.