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Press Release

Former Fulton High School Coach Arrested on Federal Charges for Receiving, Transporting, and Possessing Child Pornography

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

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Joshua Demars, age 37, of Fulton, New York, was arrested today on a federal complaint charging him with receiving, transporting, and possessing child pornography.

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

The complaint alleges that, on March 19, 2023, the New York State Police (“NYSP”) and Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) executed a search warrant at Demars’ residence in Fulton, New York.  The search warrant was obtained, in part, because a CyberTipline Report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) indicated that Demars had uploaded child pornography to Dropbox.  At the time of the search warrant execution, Demars worked as a teaching assistant and coach in the Fulton City School District.

As outlined in the criminal complaint, during the search of Demars’ residence, law enforcement located several electronic devices that contained hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography.  On those devices, law enforcement found evidence that Demars had indeed transported a video of a 5-7 year old female being sexually abused by an adult male to his Dropbox account, and dozens of recordings of Demars receiving live videos of children who were engaging in sexually explicit conduct.  The charges in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Demars appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter today and was ordered detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for May 5, 2023.  If convicted, Demars faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, a term of supervised release of up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000, and will be required to register as a sex offender after his release from prison.  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.

HSI and NYSP are investigating the case, and it is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Tuck and Jessica Carbone 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.

Updated May 2, 2023

Topic
Project Safe Childhood