BUFFALO – A Jamestown man who plead guilty of producing child pornography was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, who handled the case, stated that on November 24, 2014, James A. Chapman and Victim 1 communicated via Facebook Messenger about engaging in sexual activity. During the communications, the defendant offered to pay Victim 1 and one of her friends $60 each to have sex with him.
Victim 1 stated that she was 16-years-old and that her friend was the same age. Later that evening, Victim 1 and Victim 2 went to Chapman’s residence in Jamestown, and the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with them, after which Chapman paid each victim $60.
Following the sexual activity, the defendant used his cellular telephone to take a picture of Victim 1 and Victim 2 completely nude sitting on his bed. A review of Chapman’s Facebook accounts revealed that he then distributed the photograph, which constitutes child pornography, to four other individuals.
Subsequently, on April 7, 2017, the defendant began communicating with Victim 3, who was 17-years-old, through Facebook. During their communications, Chapman requested and received a sexually explicit image of Victim 3. The defendant then sent the image, which constitutes child pornography, to another individual. In addition, Chapman sent Victim 3 the sexually explicit image he took of Victim 1 and Victim 2.
“Thanks to this sentence, the defendant will not be able to victimize or sexually exploit minors for the next three decades,” noted U.S. Attorney Kennedy. “Working with our partners at every level of law enforcement, my Office will continue do all that we can to ensure that the most vulnerable members of our community are protected from those who seek to do them harm.”
Jamestown Police Captain Robert Samuelson also sent the following statement to WNY News Now on behalf of the department:
“We are very pleased with that sentence given the time and efforts spent by ours and federal investigators in the case.”
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia, and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Timothy Jackson.
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