SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Lawrence C. Berry, age 25, and Brittany
E. Berry, age 24, of Cortland, New York, were charged today with conspiring to
sexually exploit a child.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C.
Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field
Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A federal criminal complaint charges that in or about August
and September 2018, the defendants conspired together to sexually exploit a
child who was born in 2015 for the purpose of producing visual depictions of
that abuse. The charges in the complaint
are merely accusations. The defendants
are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If convicted of the charge alleged in the complaint, each
defendant faces a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 15 years, a maximum
sentence of 30 years, a fin of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment
supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge
based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.
The defendants appeared today before United States
Magistrate Judge Andrew T. Baxter, who ordered that they be detained pending
further proceedings.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and the City of
Cortland Police Department. It is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Gadarian as part of
Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May
2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United
States Attorneys’ 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.
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