Greene County Man Charged with Attempted Enticement of a Child

 ALBANY, NEW YORK – Thomas Squires, age 35, of Cairo, New York, was arrested yesterday and charged with attempting to entice a child.  

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Thomas F. Relford, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). 

The charges in the complaint are merely accusations.  The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

The criminal complaint alleges that between July 27, 2020 and August 19, 2020, Squires exchanged sexually explicit text messages with an undercover investigator who was posing as a child.  In those messages, Squires repeatedly asked the child for naked photos of the child, and sent photos of his own genitalia.  Squires further asked to meet the child in person at a pre-determined location in Cairo, to engage in sexual acts with the child in his car.  On August 19, 2020, Squires traveled from his residence in Cairo to the pre-determined location to meet and have sex with the child.  Squires was encountered by law enforcement upon his arrival and arrested. 

Squires appeared today before United States Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel, and was detained pending a detention hearing set for August 24.  

The charge filed against Squires carries a sentence of at least 10 years and up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of 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. 

This case is being investigated by the FBI and its Child Exploitation Task Force, with assistance from the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Williams. 

Anyone who wants to provide law enforcement with information about the defendant should contact the FBI Albany Field Office at (518) 465-7551. 

This case is prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse.  Led by the United States Attorney’s Office, 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 identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc/.