Oneida County Man Pleads Guilty to Distribution and Possession of Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – John Angwin, age 29, of Holland Patent, New York, pled guilty today to distributing and possessing child pornography, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, Kevin Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and New York State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett.

In entering his guilty plea today in United States District Court, Angwin, admitted that he used the Kik Messenger application to distribute child pornography to other Kik users.  Agwin also used his iPhone to possess images and videos of child pornography he received via the internet.  Execution of search warrants on Angwin’s iPhones revealed that he possessed over 1,500 images and over 150 video files depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. The images and videos included depictions of the sexual exploitation of prepubescent children.

Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby will sentence Angwin on February 6, 2020.  He faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison for the distribution charge and up to 20 years in prison on the possession charge, a term of post-release supervision of at least 5 years and up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000. Angwin will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case is being investigated by HSI Syracuse with assistance from the New York State Police Computer Crimes Unit, and the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.

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 Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and is designed to marshal 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.