Utica man pleads guilty to child exploitation charges

SYRACUSE, N.Y. » A 53-year-old Utica man pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in federal court.

Aaron Bohannon pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of distribution of child pornography, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Kevin M. Kelly, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo Field Office of Homeland

Security Investigations (HSI).

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 17, 2020, at which time Bohannon faces a minimum of 15 years and up to 50 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life.

Bohannon also will be required to register as a sex offender. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

As part of his guilty plea, officials said Bohannon admitted that he sexually exploited his victim from at least 2018 through June of 2019, recorded the abuse, and distributed the sexually explicit material to others. Bohannon further admitted that he distributed other sexually explicit images and videos of minors, officials noted.

This case was investigated by the New York State Police, the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, the Utica Police Department, and the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant

U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian.

This case was 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/.