SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Kerry Smith, 41, of Syracuse, New York, pled guilty today to sexual exploitation of a child, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James Jewell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
As part of her guilty plea today in United States District Court, Smith admitted that in 2014 she engaged in sexually explicit conduct with a 10-year-old child, produced images of the abuse, and distributed the images to another person using her mobile telephone. Smith was arrested for this offense in April of 2016 when the images were recovered from a computer belonging to that person, who told police he had received them from a woman he knew as “Kerry.”
Sentencing is scheduled for June 13, 2017 before Hon. Glenn T. Suddaby, Chief United States District Judge. If the court accepts the plea agreement, Smith will be sentenced to fifteen (15) years imprisonment and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years, and up to life. She will also have to register as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
Smith’s case was investigated by the Albany Division of the FBI (Syracuse Resident Agency), and the New York State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York.
Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.