Syracuse man gets 10 years in prison for possession of child pornography – Oneida Dispatch

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – David Hughes, aka Danielle Starr, 50, of Syracuse and formerly of Oneida County, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possessing a sexually explicit video of a 13-year-old boy that he obtained from the child over the Internet.

U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, made the announcement.

Hughes, who previously served 210 months in federal prison for a prior conviction for receiving and possessing child pornography, admitted in his earlier guilty plea that while on federal parole, he used his monitored smartphone to communicate with a person he knew was a 13-year-old boy.

Hughes identified himself as “Danielle Starr.” In communications captured by the monitoring program, Hughes discussed sexual acts with the child and knowingly received a sexually explicit video that the child had made for Hughes and sent to him. Law enforcement identified the child as an out-of-state minor and notified the child’s parents of the online activity.

In addition to the 10-year sentence, Hughes was given a concurrent two-year sentence for violating the terms of supervised release for his prior offense. He will be placed on 20 years of supervised release when he is released from prison and will still be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Probation Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York, prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Childhood leverages federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who exploit children online, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.