Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A 68-year-old Salamanca man has admitted to child pornography charges. Prosecutors say Wayne Gilman had child porn in Salamanca between January 23, 2010, and August 24, 2012. Gilman is scheduled for sentencing April 20 in Cattaraugus County Court. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Limestone man has pleaded guilty to promoting a sexual performance by a child and unlawful surveillance. Prosecutors say the first case against 36-year-old Billy Dixon is from March 3, 2013, and involved a child younger than 17. The second was on February 14, 2014, and involved a child younger than 16. The third incident was on August 17, when Dixon recorded a person privately dressing or undressing. All three incidents happened in the Town of Carrollton. Dixon is scheduled for sentencing on April 20 in Cattaraugus County Court. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Port Allegany man is facing child pornography charges in Potter County. 26-year-old Christopher Mitchell is accused of having inappropriate contact with a child younger than 16 in August of 2011 in Ulysses. He is facing five felony child pornography and child sex charges. Mitchell is in Potter County jail on $75,000 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Child pornography charges have been filed against a Limestone man. 34-year-old Billy Dixon was arrested following a month-long state police investigation. Dixon is charged with felony unlawful surveillance for sexual arousal, two counts each of felony possession of a child sexual performance and promoting a sexual performance by a child, two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful possession of marijuana. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A man has pleaded guilty to sharing child pornography online. 19-year-old Christian Imperial of Warren is accused of having media files on his computer that depicted children younger than 18 engaging in sexually graphic acts and poses. Agents with the state attorney general’s office say Imperial’s computer contained hundreds of files of child pornography. A review by the Sexual Offender Assessment Board has been ordered and sentencing has been tentatively scheduled for November 3. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Charges against the Bradford man accused by the state attorney general’s office of having dozens of images of child pornography have been bound to McKean County Court. 36-year-old Steven Hurd appeared before District Judge Dominic Cercone this morning on charges of child pornography, disseminating photographs or film of child sex acts and criminal use of a communication facility. When Hurd’s Mechanic Street home was searched a month ago agents with the attorney general’s office found sexually graphic images of children on his computer, some of pre-pubescent girls with their genitals explosed, according to court papers. Special Agent Matthew Zahm of the Computer Forensics Unit removed 42 images from Hurd’s computer but noted, that was just a sampling of what was there. Hurd remains in McKean County Jail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 21-year-old man who sent naked pictures of himself to a girl younger than 18 has waived his preliminary hearing on child pornography charges. Jacob Tarr confessed to his parole officer and a police officer that he sent the pictures to the teenager from a computer in Port Allegany, as well as other places in McKean County, according to papers filed in District Judge Bill Todd's office. Tarr is in McKean County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A St. Marys man has pleaded guilty to viewing pornography with children as young as 3 years old engaging in sexual acts. The state attorney general’s office filed charges against 58-year-old Ronald Dill in March after learning a computer at his home was on a peer-to-peer network, sharing child pornography. A laptop computer and external hard drive had more than 30 video files with child pornography on them. Dill remains in jail and will be sentenced following a court-ordered sexual offender evaluation. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A hearing for the accused child pornographer who was picked up in Bradford by the state attorney general’s office last week has been moved to later this month. 36-year-old Steven Hurd was scheduled to be in McKean County Central Court this morning, but his hearing date has been moved to October 22. Court papers say Hurd had dozens of sexually graphic images of children on his computer, some of pre-pubescent girls with their genitals exposed. Special Agent Matthew Zahm of the Computer Forensics Unit removed 42 images from Hurd’s computer but noted that was just a sampling of what was there. Hurd remains in McKean County Jail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The former pediatric nurse who was found with hundreds of images of child pornography on his home computer has been sentenced to 7 ½ years in state prison. 47-year-old Willie Reid was a nurse at Olean General Hospital when he was picked up in a nationwide sting operation last year. When his computer was seized in May of 2013 he had more than 600 images and videos of children involved in sex acts, some younger than 12. Some of the acts depicted violence as well. Reid, who had worked at Olean General since 2000, was suspended from his job after charges were filed. OGH Nurse Accused of Distributing Child Porn -- May 2013 The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A Bradford man is facing child pornography charges following a search at his home this morning by agents from the state attorney general’s office. 36-year-old Steven Hurd had dozens of sexually graphic images of children on his computer, some of pre-pubescent girls with their genitals exposed, according to court papers. Special Agent Matthew Zahm of the Computer Forensics Unit removed 42 images from Hurd’s computer but noted,that was just a sampling of what was there. The investigation started in July. Hurd was arrested on Mechanic Street at just after 10 o’clock this morning. Hurd is charged with 25 counts each of child pornography and disseminating photographs or film of child sex acts, and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He is in McKean County Jail on $100,000 bail. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

Sharing child pornography online has landed a Warren man in jail. 19-year-old Christian Imperial is accused of having media files on his computer that depicted children younger than 18 engaging in sexually graphic acts and poses. Agents with the state attorney general’s office say Imperial’s computer contained hundreds of files of child pornography. Imperial is jailed on $50,000 bond. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

The state attorney general’s office has filed charges against a man for have more than 100 images of child pornography on his computer. 32-year-old Michael Geer had images of children as young as 6 years old engaged in graphic sexual poses, according to the AG’s office. He was charged with eight counts each of distribution of and possession of child pornography and sent to Warren County Jail on $50,000 cash bail. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A man who had images of child pornography on his computer will spend the next 2 1/3 to 7 years in New York State prison. 31-year-old Christopher Travis of Cattaraugus was given the maximum sentence in Chautauqua County Court. District Attorney David Foley says in a news release that he’s satisfied with the plea and prison sentence so everyone can avoid the trauma of a trial. In November, state police seized the computers and equipment belonging to Travis that contained the child pornography. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) is working to help victims of child pornography obtain full restitution for their suffering. Last month, the Supreme Court limited the remedies available to victims of child pornography under federal law. The case concerned Pennsylvania resident “Amy,” whose childhood was shattered when, at ages eight and nine, her uncle raped her and then traded the images. The Supreme Court ruled that Amy would have to find each of the tens of thousands of people who have viewed the images in order to obtain full restitution—something the Court acknowledged was not feasible. The Supreme Court called on Congress to fix the law. Today, Sen. Toomey responded by introducing the “Justice for Amy Act.” “The Supreme Court’s decision is a demoralizing setback for victims of child pornography. It perversely disadvantages those most in need of help. Under the Court’s decision, the more a child has been sexually abused, the harder it is for that ch...

Two Bradford men will be spending more time in McKean County Jail after being sentenced on child pornography charges. 23-year-old Cody Burgess was sentenced to six to 23 ½ months for downloading and sharing child pornography from his home computer in January, February and April of last year. 29-year-old Chris Abrams was sentenced six to 23 ½ months for downloading and sharing child pornography. Some of the images were of children as young as four years old. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A nurse who worked with pediatric patients at Olean General Hospital has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges. Willie Reid was charged after his home computer was seized in May of 2013. He had more than 600 images and videos of children involved in sex acts, some younger than 12. Some of the acts depicted violence as well. Reid was suspended from his job after charges were filed. He faces 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced in August. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 67-year-old Salamanca man has pleaded not guilty to child pornography charges. Wayne Gilman was arrested following a year-long investigation by the Salamanca police department, after they got a tip about questionable photographs on a computer. They didn’t say how many photos they found, but they did confiscate seven computers during the investigation. Prosecutors say the incidents happened between January 23, 2010, and August 24, 2012. Gilman’s case has been adjourned for motions. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A St. Marys man is accused of viewing pornography with children as young as 3 years old engaging in sexual acts. The state attorney general’s office has filed charges against 58-year-old Ronald Dill after learning a computer at his home was on a peer-to-peer network sharing child pornography. A laptop computer and external hard drive had more than 30 video files with child pornography on them. Dill is charged with 20 counts of possession of child pornography, seven counts of distributing child pornography and one count of criminal use of a communication facility. He was sent to jail on $50,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 18. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947

A 69-year-old man whose purported child pornography collection was discovered when he took his computer to a shop for repairs has pleaded not guilty to nearly 100 charges. Larry Westfall of Olean is charged with 49 counts each of promoting sexual performance by a child and possession of a sexual performance by a child. Last summer, he took his computer to Champion Rent-to-Own, where employees discovered the child porn and contacted police. His case has been adjourned for motions. The news leader of the Twin Tiers ... since 1947