Utica Man Facing Federal Child Exploitation Charge

A Utica man who is a registered sex offender has been arrested on a federal charge of sexual exploitation of a child.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says a criminal complaint accuses 34-year old Shawn Bunnell of producing lewd and lascivious images of a two-year old child and uploading the images through Google.

Bunnell is also charged with the commission of a felony offense against a child as a registered sex offender.

He's being held without bail pending trial.

If convicted, Bunnell faces a mandatory minimum term of 25 years and a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison for the exploitation offense, and because he is accused of committing the offense as a person required to register as a sex offender, he faces an additional and mandatory consecutive term of 10 years in prison.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone who may have information regarding Bunnell is asked to contact the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center at (315) 732-3990.