Olean Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

       BUFFALO, N.Y.–U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Willie G. Reid, 46, of Olean, N.Y., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara, to possession of child pornography. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and a term of supervised release of at least five years to life.

                Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who is handling the case, stated that on May 2, 2013, Reid was in possession of images and videos of child pornography on his computer at his residence in Olean. The defendant possessed over 600 image and video files of child pornography. Some of the files images depicting violence, and some of the children shown in the images and videos were prepubescent and under the age of 12 years. Reid used peer-to-peer software to download child pornography and shared it with others. 

                This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

                The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.