Schenectady County Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Timothy "Mitch" Duell, age 47, of Schenectady County, New York, pled guilty today to possessing child pornography. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo, New York Field Office, made the announcement.

Duell admitted that he possessed sexually explicit images of a child under the age of 12, and engaged in chats where he discussed his interest in engaging in sex acts with that child.

At sentencing scheduled for November 26, 2024, before United States District Judge Mae D'Agostino, Duell faces a statutory maximum imprisonment term of 20 years. Additionally, Duell will be required to serve a post-imprisonment term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, must register as a sex offender upon release, pay restitution to the victim of his offense, and forfeit the device he used to commit it. A defendant's sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

HSI and the New York State Police investigated this case, and Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Gadarian prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney's 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.