Sex Offender Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Offense, Admits Violating Supervised Release

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MICHAEL SZWARC, 36, of Derby, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to a child exploitation offense, and admitted that he violated the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Szwarc was convicted in 2013 in state court of possession of child pornography in the second degree, and in 2022 in federal court of receipt of child pornography.

In January 2024, while Szwarc was on federal supervised release, his federal probation officer conducted an unannounced visit to his home and discovered Szwarc in possession of an unauthorized laptop.  The probation officer seized the laptop.  A subsequent forensic examination of the device revealed multiple images of child pornography.  The investigation revealed that Szwarc used the dark web to access websites used to traffic and distribute child pornography.

Szwarc pleaded guilty to and accessing with intent to view child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  The penalties in this matter are enhanced because of Szwarc’s prior federal and state convictions for possessing child pornography.

Szwarc has been detained since his arrest on February 9, 2024.  A sentencing date is not scheduled.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.