Former School Bus Driver Sentenced For Child Porn

WHITE PLAINS, NY — A former Orange County school bus driver was sentenced for distributing child porn. Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Matthew Hamill, 26, of Wurtsboro and Garner, SC, was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison in connection with his distribution and possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of transportation of child pornography.

Kim said Hamill received a significant prison sentence.

“Matthew Hamill, a school bus driver entrusted with the safety of children, admitted that he possessed and distributed child pornography,” he said. “Protecting children from predators is one of our most important missions, and that becomes all the more important when the defendant is someone in regular contact with children.”

According to the complaint and information file in court:

From March 2012 to March 2014, HAMILL traded images and videos of child pornography via email. HAMILL continued to possess child pornography on his computer through August 2015, by which time he had become a school bus driver for the Minisink Valley Central School District in Orange County, New York. After HAMILL became aware of the federal investigation in this case, he attempted to delete evidence of the child pornography. However, a forensic examination of HAMILL’s computer, which was seized during the execution of a search warrant at HAMILL’s residence, recovered 493 child pornography images; and a review of HAMILL’s emails obtained by search warrant showed that HAMILL sent 94 emails attaching a total of 135 images and 14 videos of child pornography.

In addition to the prison sentence, Hamill was sentenced to five years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to victims of his crime.

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