Press release
BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned and indictment charging Shayne M. Hildreth, 40, of Bliss, NY, with transportation and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a minimum penalty of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, in February 2018, the Aurora-Marionville Police Department in Lawrence County, Missouri was dispatched to an address in Aurora, Missouri based on a report of a past sexual assault involving a 15-year-old Minor Victim (MVI). MVl stated that she was molested by the defendant over the past several years in the states of New York, Colorado, and Missouri. MVl stated that she had previously found child pornography, including surreptitiously recorded images of herself, on Hildreth’s cellular phone and laptop computer. On February 24, 2018, Aurora-Marionville Police encountered the defendant and seized a cellular telephone found in his possession. On March 2, 2018, during the execution of a search warrant on the phone, three images of child pornography were recovered.
The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and was detained.
The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Aurora-Marionville Police Department, under the direction of Chief Richard Witthuhn, and Homeland Security investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.