Former Orange County School Bus Driver Sentenced In White Plains Federal Court To Seven Years In Prison For Distributing Child Pornography

  Joon H. Kim, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MATTHEW HAMILL was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas to seven years in prison in connection with his distribution and possession of child pornography.  HAMILL pled guilty in January 2017 to one count of transportation of child pornography before U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy.

Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said:  “Matthew Hamill, a school bus driver entrusted with the safety of children, admitted that he possessed and distributed child pornography. 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. Hamill, having admitted his crime of distributing child pornography, now has received a significant prison sentence.”

According to the Complaint and Information filed in White Plains federal court, as well as materials submitted in connection with the plea and sentencing proceedings:

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, 26, of Wurtsboro, New York, and Garner, North Carolina, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.  Judge Karas also ordered HAMILL to pay $15,000 in restitution to victims of his crime.

Mr. Kim praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.