Buffalo Man Indicted on Possession of Child Pornography

BUFFALO—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury in Buffalo has returned a two-count indictment charging Kevin Baron, 42, of Buffalo, New York, with possession of child pornography. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that on March 9, 2012, a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s residence. According to the indictment, two DVDs were seized that contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography. At least three of the images are known to have been produced outside of New York State.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. 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 locate, 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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

The indictment is the culmination of an investigation on the part of members of the FBI Buffalo Cyber Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Christopher M. Piehota, Special Agent in Charge. Additional assistance was provided by the Western New York Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, which conducted the forensic analysis of the computer.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.