Press release:
BUFFALO -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Jerald Kicinski, 48, of East Bethany, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio, to receipt of child pornography. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, a fine of $250,000, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie P. Grisanti, who handled the case, stated that between December 2010 and December 14, 2011, the defendant received child pornography on his computer at his residence in East Bethany. These images had been transmitted to the defendant in interstate commerce via the Internet. Kicinski was previously convicted of sexual abuse in the second degree in 2002 and sexual abuse in the third degree in 1990. Both of the defendant's prior convictions involved minors.
The plea was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of James C. Spero, special agent In charge. Sentencing will occur in front of Chief Judge William M. Skretny. No sentencing date has been scheduled.
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.
