ALBANY, NEW YORK – Michael Telford, age 47, of Cambridge, New York, was sentenced today to 96 months in prison for distributing, receiving and possessing child pornography.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and James C. Spero, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
The sentence was issued by U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino, and followed Telford’s guilty plea, on October 24, 2016, to a 3-count indictment charging him with distributing, receiving, and possessing child pornography.
Judge D’Agostino also imposed a 20-year term of supervised release to start after Telford is released from prison. She reserved judgment on any order of restitution, noting that 6 child pornography victims – whose images Telford possessed -- had submitted requests for restitution. As a result of his conviction, Telford will be required to register as a sex offender after leaving prison.
As part of his guilty plea, Telford admitted that on December 27, 2013, he used an online chat program to exchange videos including child pornography with a person in the United Kingdom; that between April 24, 2015 and June 4, 2015, he received video files containing child pornography using an online chat program; and that he saved child pornography on two digital devices. In sentencing Telford, Judge D’Agostino told him that his offenses made him a member of a group of people who ensure that “these children will have images of the worst times in their lives posted on the Internet,” and that these children will continue to suffer from the “endless crime” of the distribution and redistribution of those images.
This case was investigated by HSI and the New York State Police, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Solomon B. Shinerock.
This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc/.