A Waverly man appeared in federal court Friday to face charges of sexual exploitation of a child and transportation of child pornography.
Tristan Kovacs, 21, allegedly produced a sexually explicit image of himself and a 9-year-old girl in April, which he uploaded to a pornographic site in an attempt to make money, according to Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany Field Office. Tremaroli said his office had Kovacs in custody hours after the website found and reported the image.
“The FBI will continue to devote every resource available to swiftly investigate these despicable predators and protect our most vulnerable,” Tremaroli said.
Kovacs was detained following his arraignment Friday while he awaits further court proceedings.
Kovacs could face between 15 and 30 years in federal prison on the sexual exploitation charge, and 5 to 20 years in jail on the transportation of child pornography charge if convicted. He could also face a maximum $250,000 fine. Following his jail sentence, Kovacs could be under supervised release for the rest of his life and will have to register as a sex offender
“The defendant’s conduct as alleged in the complaint is despicable,” Sarcone said. “Not only is the defendant alleged to have sexually exploited a child, but he also appears to have sought to profit from it. My office is committed to doing whatever is in our power to ensure this defendant never has the opportunity to harm another child.”
The Waverly Police Department and Broome County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation.
