Delaware County Man Charged with Possessing Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Michael Murray, age 69, of Sidney, New York, was arrested and charged yesterday with possessing child pornography.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

According to the complaint, Murray possessed child pornography images and videos on his phone. 

The charges in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Murray appeared yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Daniel J. Stewart, and was detained pending further proceedings.  If convicted on this charge, Murray faces a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, a maximum $250,000 fine, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.   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.

This case is being investigated by HSI with assistance from the New York State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Williams.

This case is being prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood.  Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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.