Level 3 Registered Sex Offender Arrested On Multiple Child Pornography Charges

CONTACT:    Barbara Burns
PHONE:    (716) 843-5817
FAX #:    (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Donald Campbell Sr., 60, of Elmira, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with receipt, distribution, and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, stated that in July 2022, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received a report from Google, Inc. that a Gmail user possessed, manufactured, and distributed child pornography via Google Photos. Google forwarded multiple images of suspected child pornography from the subject account. Subsequent investigation traced the account to Campbell. On January 9, 2023, the Elmira Police Department executed a search warrant at Campbell’s Linden Place residence, seizing 19 digital storage items. A preliminary analysis  indicates that at least eight items contain child pornography, including over 200 images and videos of child pornography on a cell phone and over 200 images and videos on an SD card. Some of the images include children as young as infancy and children engaged in sexual acts with other children and adults. 

Campbell is a registered level-three sex offender (the highest risk level) following two prior felony child pornography offenses in New York State Court in December 2004 and March 2019.
 
Campbell was detained following a detention hearing this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pedersen.

The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Darren Cox and the Elmira Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Kristen Thorne. 

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.   

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