Niagara County Man Sentenced On Child Pornography And Cyberstalking Charges

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Timothy Laubacker, 26, of Lockport, NY, who was convicted of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and cyberstalking, was sentenced to 180 months in prison and lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary C. Baumgarten, who handled the case, stated that in September 2015, a female victim reported to the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department that she received unsolicited communications from an individual on Facebook. The individual threatened to distribute and post images that the female victim sent to her then-boyfriend when she was about 14 years-old.

During the investigation, it was determined that Laubacker was the individual who had contacted the female victim on Facebook. The investigation further determined that the co-defendant Travis Guerriera, who had possession of the images that the victim had previously shared with her former boyfriend, had provided such images to Laubacker.

In June 2015, Laubacker attempted to entice a second victim, a minor, via Facebook to produce images of child pornography. When the minor victim refused to comply, Laubacker threatened to distribute child pornography images that he had previously obtained from the victim. Laubacker’s threats continued until November 2015. 

Laubacker made initial contact with the minor victim during his former employment as a behavioral health aide at a mental health facility. Laubaker was terminated from that employment in late December 2015 for inappropriate communications with another minor female.

Co-defendant Travis Guerriera was convicted of possession of child pornography and cyberstalking and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years when sentenced on March 14, 2018.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin P. Lyons, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of James Voutour.