SYRACUSE -- A Jefferson County man will spend the next dozen years in prison after admitting he collected and shared child pornography from his home computer.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, 61-year-old John Derrigo of Adams Center was sentenced Tuesday to 150 months for each of two separate counts of knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography via the Internet. Derrigo had pleaded guilty to those charges back in October 2010. The sentences will run concurrently. Derrigo will be placed on supervised release after serving the sentence, and will have to register as a sex offender.
In a statement to the media, U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said that Derrigo’s arrest came after investigators from the Utica Police Department and New York State Police discovered his home computer was sharing child pornography via Internet downloads. In his guilty plea, Derrigo admitted that he shared video and photo files of minors engaged in sexual conduct, and other images of individuals partipating in violent sexual acts.
Hartunian says Derrigo was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, “a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.” For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
