United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York

06/10/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/10/2025 20:03

Utica Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Distributing, Receiving, and Possessing Child Pornography

Press Release

Utica Sex Offender Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Distributing, Receiving, and Possessing Child Pornography

Tuesday, June 10, 2025
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For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Dustin Smith, age 31, of Utica, New York, was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography. United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III, Erin Keegan, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office, and Steven G. James, New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent made the announcement.

As part of his prior guilty plea, Smith admitted that he had a 2013 conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree and that in 2022, while under parole supervision for that conviction, he possessed a cell phone which he used to send, receive, and possess thousands of images and videos of child pornography. Specifically, Smith admitted that he used the cell phone to exchange videos of child pornography with at least two identified minor children.

In addition to the 20-year prison sentence, Senior United States District Judge David N. Hurd also imposed a 15-year term of supervised release, to begin after Smith's prison sentence is complete. Additionally, Smith must pay $102,000 in restitution to the victims of his offenses, forfeit the device he used to commit the crimes, and register as a sex offender upon his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Sarcone stated, "While under parole supervision, Smith distributed child pornography to a minor, demonstrating that he cannot be at liberty without harming children. With this 20-year sentence, our children are safer."

HSI Special Agent in Charge Keegan said, "Northern New York is undoubtedly a safer place with Dustin Smith behind bars. This sex offender has an admitted history of abhorrent crimes against children. HSI Syracuse stands in lockstep with our law enforcement partners in our shared commitment toward justice on behalf of our communities."

HSI investigated this case with assistance from the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit, New York State Parole, and Oneida County Sheriff's Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica N. Carbone prosecuted the case as 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.

Updated June 10, 2025
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
Component
USAO - New York, Northern
United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York published this content on June 10, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 11, 2025 at 02:03 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at support@pubt.io