Rensselaer County Child Predator Sentence For Child Sexual Exploitation & Pornography
Thursday, May 29, 2025, 5:30 P.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
ALBANY, NY.- Last Friday, a 40-year-old Rensselaer County, New York, man and convicted child predator learned he would be spending the next three decades in federal prison after being sentenced for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl and creating sexually explicit digital images of the child.
According to U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone, III, on Friday, May 23, 2025, Michael Cardwell, 40, of Rensselaer County, New York, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Anne M. Nardacci to 360 months in federal prison, to be followed by 25 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to the Sexual Exploitation of a Child; and Possession of Child Pornography.
Cardwell Admits To Sexually Abusing Young Child
According to charging documents filed with the District Court, and as part of his previously entered guilty plea, Cardwell admitted that he sexually abused a 7-year-old girl over a period of months beginning in late 2023 and lasting through early 2024 and during the abuse created sexually explicit images of the child.
Cardwell further admitted to possessing around 1,000 digital images and video files that he had obtained on the internet, including some of prepubescent children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
In handing down the sentence on Friday, in addition to the term of imprisonment, Judge Nardacci ordered Cardwell to pay $30,000 in restitution to his victims and to forfeit the property used in the commission of the offenses. Upon release from federal prison, Cardwell will be required to register as a sex offender in the national database.
“Friday’s sentence reflects the egregiousness of Cardwell’s conduct and ensures the public will be protected against future crimes by him for decades to come,” said U.S. Attorney Sarcone. “I appreciate the hard work of the FBI and our state and local law enforcement on this important prosecution.”
