A Central New York man who worked as a pastor for decades has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for possession of child pornography.
James H. Swanson, 59, of Rome, N.Y., was arrested just over a year ago on charges of receipt and transportation of child pornography.
Investigators said Swanson would, for years, download child pornography from the internet and then upload the files to a cloud storage account — charges that carried up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
But prosecutors said that.Swanson pleaded guilty to the charges. As part of the agreement, he admitted to downloading and saving “several” child porn files between March 25 and March 28, 2022.
He also admitted he had been doing that “for years,” adding he would “periodically purge his collection of child pornography before eventually accessing, viewing, and downloading more,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York said in a news release.
On Friday, Judge Brenda K. Sannes sentenced Swanson to three years in prison followed by 15 years of supervised release. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
According to documents filed in court, the disgraced veteran pastor “most recently served as the pastor of the Rome Wesleyan Church.”
A church representative didn’t immediately return a request for comment on Saturday.