Tioga County Man Pleads Guilty to Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Paul Wyak, age 49, of Spencer, New York, pled guilty today to failing to register and update his registration as a sex offender after it was discovered that he had an e-mail address that he did not disclose to the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services as required by the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”), announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and David L. McNulty, United States Marshal for the Northern District of New York.

As part of his guilty plea, Wyak admitted that from January 10, 2021 through February 8, 2021, he failed to register a Google e-mail address that he created on December 31, 2020, as required by SORNA.

Wyak was required to register as a sex offender because of his federal conviction in 2008 for distribution of child pornography.  Wyak was sentenced on February 20, 2008, to serve 92 months’ incarceration, and a 25-year term of supervised release on that conviction.   

In addition to his plea to the failure to register and update a registration as a sex offender, Wyak also admitted today to violating the terms of supervised release previously imposed after his 2008 conviction.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 5, 2021 before Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy.  In addition to any punishment for violating the terms of his supervised release, Wyak faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000.00, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life on the sex offender registration offense.  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.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service and is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle 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