Source: Office of United States Attorneys
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Edward McKeraghan, 59, of Syracuse, New York pled guilty last week in United States District Court to possession of child pornography, and also admitted violating conditions of his federal supervised release. United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the announcement.
McKeraghan, a federally convicted sex offender on supervised release for a prior child pornography offense, admitted that he possessed child sexual abuse material on an unreported and unmonitored internet-capable phone that he obtained in violation of his conditions of federal supervision. The phone was discovered by the United States Probation Office during a routine home visit.
Sentencing is scheduled for October 15, 2025. For the child pornography offense, McKeraghan faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of 20 years, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of at least 5 years and up to life. He also faces up to an additional 2 years for violating the terms of his supervised release. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statutes the defendant is convicted of violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III said, “Repeat sex offenders pose a grave threat to society, particularly to our children. My office will continue to vigorously prosecute all child exploitation offenses in the Northern District of New York.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Craig L. Tremaroli stated, “Mr. McKeraghan’s actions are especially disturbing, given he is a convicted predator on supervised release. Our children are among the most vulnerable members of our community, and the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is committed to working together to protect them any way we can.
The FBI’s Albany Division Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is investigating the case with assistance from the United States Probation Office. Assistant United States Attorney Lisa M. Fletcher, Project Safe Childhood Coordinator for the Northern District of New York is prosecuting the case.
Project Safe Childhood is a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ 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.