Zachary Cota, age 32, formerly of Castleton-on-Hudson, New York, has been sentenced to 292 months in prison for receiving child pornography.
Cota previously admitted that he used SnapChat to solicit three children to send him nude photos. After an eight-year-old and a 13-year-old provided the requested photos, Cota threatened to reveal what they had done to coerce the children to send additional child sexual abuse material.
At the time of these crimes, Cota was on probation following a state conviction for the course of sexual conduct against a child.
When his Probation Officer asked to see Cota’s phone, Cota locked himself in a bathroom and began deleting its contents. A forensic search of Cota’s phone revealed an additional 900 images of child pornography, including screenshots of a video chat between Cota and a naked child.
United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III stated, “Cota’s depraved and disgusting conduct has justly resulted in a lengthy term of imprisonment that will make our community safer. We will continue to investigate and prosecute sex offenders and pedophiles who use the Internet and social media applications to prey on children.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated: “Today’s sentence underscores the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting children from dangerous predators like Mr. Cota. We will continue to work together with our law enforcement partners at every level to identify and investigate these disturbing individuals and ensure justice is delivered to the victims.”
United States District Judge Anne M. Nardacci also imposed a life term of supervised release and ordered Cota to forfeit the Samsung phone he used to commit the offence.
Cota must also continue to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.
