A federal district court in Binghamton reported Michael Rushmer, age 48, of Johnson City, was sentenced Thursday to 300 months in prison for sexually exploiting a child, and for distributing and possessing child pornography.
As part of his previously entered guilty plea, Rushmer admitted he created sexually explicit images and videos of a minor (including secretly recording the victim engaged in sexual acts) and that he distributed some of those images and videos to people over the internet. Rushmer further admitted that he possessed hundreds of images and videos depicting child pornography on his electronic devices, some of which included children under the age of 12
Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy also imposed a 10-year term of supervised release, which will start after Rushmer is released from prison, and ordered payment of $9,000 in restitution to victims. As a result of his conviction, Rushmer will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI, the Johnson City Police Department, the Broome County Sheriff’s Department and the Broome County District Attorney’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Gadarian and Sahar Amandolare.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), and is designed to marshal 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
