Onondaga County Man Arrested on Child Pornography Charges

 SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Ryan Maher, age 34, of Cicero, New York, was arrested yesterday  and charged with receiving child pornography, announced Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon, Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police Superintendent Keith Corlett.

According to the criminal complaint filed yesterday, Maher, a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2012 of sexual abuse in the second degree – sexual contact with a person less than 14 years old – acquired approximately 4000 images of child pornography on the internet and saved that material to a thumb drive. 

The charge against Maher carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 40 years in prison, a post-release term of supervision of between five years and life, and a fine of up to $250,000.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

Maher made his initial appearance yesterday before Magistrate Judge Thérèse Wiley Dancks and was detained pending further proceedings.

The charge in the complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case is being investigated by the FBI Syracuse Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force.  This task force is comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney’s 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 https://www.justice.gov/psc.