Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Michael Szwarc, 36, from Derby, has been sentenced to 134 months in prison. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford and includes an additional 25 years of supervised release. Szwarc's sentencing is related to a child exploitation offense and violations of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.
Court documents reveal that Szwarc was previously convicted in state court in 2013 for possession of child pornography in the second degree and again in federal court in 2022 for receipt of child pornography.
In January 2024, while on federal supervised release, Szwarc's probation officer made an unannounced visit to his residence and found an unauthorized laptop. A forensic examination uncovered multiple images of child pornography on the device. Further investigation revealed that Szwarc had accessed dark web sites used for trafficking and distributing images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.
On August 13, 2024, Szwarc pleaded guilty to accessing with intent to view child pornography. Judge Thompson sentenced him to 120 months for this offense and an additional consecutive sentence of 14 months for violating conditions of his supervised release.
The penalties were increased due to Szwarc’s prior convictions at both state and federal levels for possessing child pornography.
Szwarc has been detained since his arrest on February 9, 2024.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation into this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel E. Cummings prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. More information about Project Safe Childhood can be found at www.justice.gov/psc.
To report cases involving child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.