Upstate NY Pastor Sentenced to Federal Prison for Child Pornography

U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Buffalo, New York Field Office, announced that an Upstate New York pastor has been sentenced to three years in prison for possession of child pornography.

James H. Swanson, 59, of Rome, New York, pleaded guilty to uploading multiple videos of child pornography to a cloud storage account under his control between March 25, 2022, and March 28, 2022. Swanson further admitted that he engaged in this illegal activity over a period of several years and that he periodically deleted his collection of child pornography before he was able to access, view, and download the illegal material again.

The revelation came to light in documents filed in United States District Court. It turned out that Swanson, who worked as a pastor for decades, was most recently the pastor of Rome Wesleyan Church.

In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes also imposed a 15-year term of supervised release, which Swanson will begin serving upon his release from prison. Swanson will also be required to register as a sex offender.

The investigation into the case was conducted jointly by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Police (NYSP), and the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office. The prosecution was conducted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian S. LaRochelle as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative led by the Offices of the United States Attorney and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). It is designed to leverage federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children online, and to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about the initiative to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, please visit Project Safe Childhood.