Tioga County Man Sentenced to More Than 13 Years for Possessing Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - David P. VanHousen, age 54, formerly of Newark Valley, New York, was sentenced today to 160 months (13 years, 4 months) in federal prison for possession of child pornography, announced 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).

As part of his prior guilty plea, VanHousen admitted that, while civilly committed at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, New York following several sex offense and child pornography-related convictions, VanHousen possessed numerous images and videos of child pornography on a contraband cellular telephone.

VanHousen was previously convicted in 2001 of Sexual Misconduct and Rape in the Third Degree in New York State court and Transportation of Child Pornography in federal court.

United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also sentenced VanHousen to serve a life term of supervised release following his release from prison, at which time VanHousen will also be required to register as a sex offender.

This case was investigated by the FBI Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NYSP-BCI). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adrian S. LaRochelle and Jessica N. Carbone 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). Project Safe Childhood marshals 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.