Baldwinsville Man Facing Federal Child Pornography Charges

A Baldwinsville man appeared in Federal Court Thursday on charges that he received Child Pornography on his Instagram profile.

Acting United State Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Special Agent in charge of the Albany FBI field office announced the arrest and details of the criminal complaint. According to that complaint, 21-year-old Richard Curtis of Baldwinsville allegedly solicited and then received several images over the Instagram platform on his smart device.

Officials say at this time, Curtis has not been found guilty of any crime and is presumed innocent until proven otherwise. However, Curtis is facing a hefty penalty is he's found guilty of the crime. Federal Prosecutors say, "Curtis faces at least 5 years and up to 20 years in prison, a term of post-release supervision of at least 5 years and up to life, and a fine of up to $250,000."

Curtis appeared before the Honorable U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Baxter and was detained pending further court proceedings. Similar to the Oneida County Child Advocacy Center, the task force investigating this particular case is specifically to help look into cases involving child victims. Project Safe Childhood, which was launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice, is led by United States Attorney’s offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.