Lockport Man Pleads Guilty To Distributing Child Pornography

Monday, November 18, 2024, 2:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,

BUFFALO, NY.- On Friday, a 52-year-old Lockport child predator is facing up to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to sending sexually explicit images over a social media application to a federal investigator who he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

     According to U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross, on Friday, November 15, 2024, Gerard Dzierzanowski, 52, of Lockport, New York, appeared in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy to Distribution of Child Pornography.

     According to documents filed with the court, in February 2023, Dzierzanowski began communicating online with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl using the Whisper Messenger application. The online chats transitioned to the Kik Messenger application.

Dzierzanowski Actually Chatting With Undercover Agent

     Dzierzanowski, who thought he was chatting with an actual 13-year-old girl when, in fact, he was communicating with an undercover federal agent monitoring social media applications who was involved in identifying users on Whisper and Kik attempting to engage in criminal sexual activity with children.

     The undercover agent repeatedly advised Dzierzanowski during the Kik chats that she was 13 years old. Dzierzanowski sent multiple digital images that meet the definition of child pornography. Dzierzanowski also sent video files that depicted a prepubescent girl engaged in sexually explicit conduct with an adult male.

     During the online chats, Dzierzanowski requested the 13-year-old girl engage in sexually explicit conduct with him. Dzierzanowski also sent a “selfie” of himself and a sexually explicit video of himself.

     Following the online chats, in August 2023, law enforcement investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant at Dzierzanowski’s residence. During the search, investigators seized multiple electronic devices that contained digital images and video files depicting nude and sexually explicit prepubescent and pubescent children. 

     The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.