U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the sentencing of Derek Hagen, a former teacher from Batavia, NY, to 20 years in prison on charges related to child pornography. Hagen was convicted of producing and possessing child pornography involving prepubescent minors. Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford also sentenced him to 15 years of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi detailed that between January 2018 and July 2021, Hagen engaged in illegal sexual conduct with a minor identified as Victim 1, aged between four and eight years old. During this period, he photographed and filmed himself engaging in sexual contact with the victim and distributed these images online.
Additionally, during his employment as an Assistant Teacher at the Brockport Childhood Development Center from May to July 2018, Hagen produced explicit images of children under his care. These children were aged six months to five years old. He created these images while performing routine tasks such as changing diapers and assisting children learning bathroom skills and distributed them over the internet.
Hagen was found in possession of approximately 50,000 images and videos of child pornography obtained online.
The investigation leading to Hagen's sentencing involved multiple agencies including the New York State Police led by Major Kevin Sucher, Homeland Security Investigations under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Erin Keegan, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.