ALBANY — A Tupper Lake man who pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer now faces up to 10 years behind bars.
James L. Talbot Jr., 39, recently entered his plea before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Albany, admitting that between June 2010 and February 2011 he possessed more than 1,300 images of child pornography, which he was making available to other Internet users, according to a press release from U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York Richard S. Hartunian.
Under the plea agreement, Talbot faces five to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine and must register under the National Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
MANY IMAGES
A case against Talbot started to develop in December 2010, when a New York State Police investigator assigned to the New York Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force detected pornographic images being made available from a computer with an Internet protocol address in the Tupper Lake area.
Investigators later determined the images were being disseminated from a computer in Talbot’s home, and they were able to obtain a search warrant.
Members of the New York State Police, Tupper Lake Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department went to Talbot’s residence, where they seized the computer and turned it over for forensic examination following the issuance of a federal search warrant.
The search resulted in the recovery of more than 1,300 images of child pornography.
Talbot is scheduled to return to court in Albany Jan. 14, 2013, for sentencing.
TASK FORCE
His arrest was the result of a joint law-enforcement effort by members of the State Police, Tupper Lake Police, Franklin County Sheriff’s Department, Clinton County Sheriff’s Department, the U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, New York State Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Utica Police Department’s Digital Forensics Laboratory.
The agencies work together as part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative utilized nationwide designed to protect children from online exploitation. The program is led by the U.S. attorneys offices, which marshal federal, state and local resources in order to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children online while identifying and rescuing the victims.
Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John G. Duncan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Pfluger prosecuted the case.
Email Miranda Orso: morso@pressrepublican.com
