St. Lawrence County Man Sentenced for Sexual Exploitation of a Child

Press Release

Skyler Keleher to Serve 30 Years in Federal Prison for Livestreaming his Abuse of a 2-Year-Old Victim

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Skyler Keleher, age 23, of St. Lawrence County, was sentenced today to serve 30 years in federal prison for his conviction on two counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Child. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James made the announcement.

In his prior guilty plea, Keleher admitted that on at least two separate occasions in 2017 he sexually abused a two-year-old child and livestreamed the abuse to others over the Internet, using Facebook Messenger and Facebook Live. Since then, video recordings of the abuse have been widely circulated over the Internet, and recovered by law enforcement in at least 26 separate investigations across the United States and abroad. While the videos were first documented by law enforcement in 2018, Keleher's identity was not confirmed until 2022, at which time he was arrested by authorities.

Following his term of imprisonment, Keleher will be placed on a term of supervised release for life, and will be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by FBI Operation Rescue Me, the FBI's Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the New York State Police, Troop B. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York, prosecuted the case.

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 www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Updated August 15, 2024