ALBANY, NEW YORK – William Hines, age 45, formerly of Hoosick Falls, New York, was sentenced to 144 months in prison for receiving and possessing more than 6,100 images of child pornography.
United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo, New York Field Office, made the announcement.
As a part of his earlier guilty plea, Hines admitted that in December 2016 through January 2017, he downloaded child pornography from a website, and the images he possessed included images depicting the rape of a toddler, adults performing oral sex and using sexual devices upon pre-pubescent children, and images and videos depicting an underaged former girlfriend.
United States District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also imposed a 15-year-term of post-release supervision and ordered Hines to forfeit a phone, laptop, and external hardrive that he used to store the child pornography. Hines will also have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
HSI investigated the case with the assistance of the Hoosick Falls Police Department and the New York State Police. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Williams and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Reiner prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood.
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 locates, 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.
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