Saugerties Man Sentenced to 70 Years for Child Sexual Exploitation Offenses

 ALBANY, NEW YORK – Matthew R. Osuba, age 35, of Saugerties, New York, was sentenced yesterday to 840 months in prison for sexually exploiting a child, and distributing and possessing child pornography. 

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

During Osuba’s August 2019 jury trial, evidence demonstrated that Osuba created and appeared in a video depicting sexually explicit conduct with a sleeping child.  He was also convicted of sending pornographic images of children over the internet, and possessing additional child pornography on his cell phone.     

At sentencing, Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy found that Osuba had engaged in a pattern of sexual exploitation of children. Judge McAvoy found by a preponderance of the evidence that Osuba had sexually abused two additional children, each under the age of 5. 

Judge McAvoy stated that Osuba’s 70-year term of imprisonment – the maximum permitted by law – was necessary to protect children and the public, because Osuba posed a significant risk of committing future child pornography offenses and “hands-on” child sexual abuse.  Judge McAvoy also imposed a 25-year term of supervised release to follow Osuba’s term of imprisonment, and ordered him to pay $3,000 in restitution to one of his victims. 

This case was investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, which includes investigators from the New York State Police, Town of Colonie Police Department, and Warren County Sheriff’s Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Kopita and Shira Hoffman.  

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 Attorney’s 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/.