Long Island Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison for Producing and Possessing Child Pornography Dating Back to the 1990s

Earlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, New York, United States District Judge Gary R. Brown sentenced Daniel Mullan to 30 years’ imprisonment for sexually exploiting a child and the possession of child pornography.  According to court filings and facts presented during the sentencing, Mullan sexually exploited a child in between 1999 and 2006 as part of his ongoing sexual abuse of children and production of child pornography.  Mullan was also convicted of possessing large quantities of child pornography between 2014 and 2017, much of which he produced over the course of decades.  Based upon the criminal statutes in place at the time of Mullan’s offenses, 30 years’ imprisonment was the maximum term allowed by law.  

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.

Today’s sentence is a just punishment for the defendant’s years of heinous acts against minors, and sends a message to all who seek to harm innocent children,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.  “This Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to make every effort to ensure that those who contribute to the exploitation and victimization of children will be brought to justice.” 

Mr. Peace extended his grateful appreciation to the FBI Long Island Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, which is made up of FBI and local law enforcement agencies, for its investigative work and assistance in the case.

According to court filings, in the summer of 2017 the FBI and the Suffolk County Police Department executed search warrants on Mullan’s Elmont, New York residence and a storage unit Mullan had rented in Melville, New York.  During the searches, law enforcement recovered hundreds of images and videos of child sexual abuse.  Several of the videos depicted Mullan engaged in sexual acts with minor teenage boys dating back to the early 1980s. 

Additional investigation by the FBI located numerous victims, including a minor who Mullan had travelled with domestically and internationally between 1999 and 2006.  Mullan had recorded his sexual abuse of this victim.  Another search warrant executed by law enforcement on a safe deposit box located over $300,000 in cash that Mullan had intended to use as “hush money” for one of his victims.  Mullan was extradited to the United States from Ireland on August 15, 2019.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The government’s case is being handled by the Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Maffei and Madeline O’Connor are in charge of the prosecution.  The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs assisted in the extradition. 

The Defendant:

DANIEL MULLAN
Age:  83
Elmont, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 17-CR-495 (GRB)