Glenn T. Suddaby, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and John F. Pikus, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, announced that RICHARD JON SCROM, age 52 of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Federal Court in Albany on his guilty plea to a one count Information charging him with the possession of child pornography. SCROM was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment and ordered to serve a life time term of supervised release. He also was ordered to (1) have no unsupervised contact with minors; (2) participate in a sex offender program; and (3) register with the New York State Sex Offender Registry Program. The court also ordered that various computer equipment be forfeited to the United States.

SCROM pled guilty on January 4, 2007, and admitted that he possessed child pornography. During his plea, he also admitted to sharing child pornography with others on the Internet. SCROM further acknowledged that he has had an interest in child pornography for several years. On July 28, 2005, a computer and computer disks were seized from SCROM'S residence pursuant to a federal search warrant. Forensic examinations of the computer and disks were subsequently conducted. Numerous images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were recovered from one of the computer disks. SCROM admitted that the images depict individuals under the age of 18 engaged in, among other things, oral sex, masturbation, and the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area. A number of the images depict prepubescent minors engaged in such conduct. SCROM also admitted that he possessed an image depicting a minor performing oral sex on an adult male while her hands and feet were bound. In connection with his plea, SCROM admitted that he is obsessed with child pornography and thoughts of twelve year old girls performing oral sex on adult men.

SCROM was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cyber Predator Task Force.

CONTACT:

Thomas Spina Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney

tel.(518) 431-0247