Greene County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving, Distributing and Possessing Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Drew Caswell, age 26, of Cairo, New York, pled guilty today to receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography.  United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police (NYSP) Superintendent Steven G. James, made the announcement. 

Caswell admitted that he used file-hosting service Mega to download child pornography and then distributed multiple image and video files of child pornography by publicly posting them on Twitter (now known as X).  Caswell also admitted that, on August 7, 2023, he possessed child pornography on his cell phone, including nearly 300 images and videos of toddlers and infants being sexually abused. 

Caswell will be sentenced on September 24, 2024, by United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci.  Caswell faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, a post-imprisonment term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, a fine of up to $250,000, restitution to the victims, and forfeiture of the phone Caswell used to commit these offenses.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant violated, the United States Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors. Caswell will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

The FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force—which includes members of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including Troop F of the New York State Police and its Computer Crimes Unit—investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mikayla Espinosa is prosecuting the case 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.