Federal Bureau of Investigation - Albany Field Division - Press Release

The United States Attorney's Office
Northern District of New York

3/15/2007 Cobleskill , New York , man pled guilty to a one count Information charging him with the possession of child pornography.

March 15, 2007

PRESS RELEASE

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, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Division, announced today that ROBERT F. WALL, age 34, of Cobleskill, New York, pled guilty in United States District Court in Albany before the Honorable Thomas J. McAvoy to a one count Information charging him with the possession of child pornography. He also admitted a forfeiture allegation.

In connection with his plea, WALL admitted that on August 5, 2003, he posted images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct to one of Yahoo Inc.'s (Yahoo) online groups/communities. A Yahoo group is a online forum for individuals that share common interests and is designed to facilitate communication and information sharing. Such a group consists of a website on which members can post messages and images. On December 10, 2003, federal law enforcement officials approached WALL and were given permission to search his computer. A forensic examination of this computer was subsequently conducted and thousands of images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct were recovered. WALL admitted today that these images depict individuals under the age of 18 engaged in, among other things, vaginal intercourse, oral sex, anal sex, masturbation and the lascivious exhibition of the genitals and pubic area. In addition, he admitted that images of objects being inserted into the vaginas of minors and an image of a minor with her hands tied and engaged in sexually explicit conduct were recovered from his computer. A number of the images recovered depict actual prepubescent minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. In connection with his plea, WALL also noted that his interest in child pornography developed sometime in 1999, and that he has joined approximately 150 Yahoo E-Groups which offer images of minors.

Sentencing was scheduled by Judge McAvoy for July 12, 2007, at 9:30 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Albany. WALL faces a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000.00. He was released pending his sentencing.

The case was investigated by the FBI's Capital Region Cyber Predator Task Force.