Prior Sex Offender Charged With Receipt And Possession Of Child Pornography

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Jerry Stearns, 48, of Canandaigua, NY, with receipt and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison, and a maximum penalty of 40 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who handled the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, the defendant was convicted in May 2004 on state charges of Attempted Criminal Sexual Act 1st Degree, for sexually assaulting a three year-old child and a six year-old child. In May 2005, Stearns was also convicted in Federal Court of possessing child pornography, and sentenced to serve 120 months in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. A special condition of that supervised release required the defendant to provide advanced notification and obtain authorization to use any internet accessible device, as well as submit to monitoring of any such authorized device.

On May 13, 2019, the U.S. Probation Department informed investigators that Stearns had been viewing child pornography on a previously authorized and monitored device. The child pornography included sexually explicit images of prepubescent girls.

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the U.S. Probation Department, under the director of Chief Probation Officer Anthony SanGiacomo.

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.