Schenectady Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Child Exploitation

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Thomas Ullman, age 47, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison for sexual exploitation of a child. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), made the announcement.

In previously pleading guilty, Ullman admitted that from at least March 2020 through June 16, 2021, he used the Internet to access a teen dating website, pretend to be a teenage boy, and persuade girls to communicate with him through video chat and messaging. Ullman admitted that he instructed the girls to engage in sexually explicit conduct during those chats, including a then-15-year-old girl. Ullman further admitted that he engaged in the same conduct with girls as young as 13.

United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also sentenced Ullman to serve 15 years of post-imprisonment supervised release and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution to a victim. Ullman will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

The FBI's Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Rotterdam Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Kopita prosecuted the case as a part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorney's 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.