Casey Medina, a former police trainee from Avon, NY, has pleaded guilty to charges of possession of child pornography and cyberstalking. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo in Rochester, NY. Medina faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison following the plea entered before U.S. District Judge Meredith A. Vacca.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford, who is handling the case, detailed that investigators executed a search warrant on Medina's phone on August 22, 2024. This led to the recovery of approximately 360 images of child pornography received over a social media platform. At least one image involved violence against a prepubescent child.
Additionally, between May and August 2024, Medina disseminated edited sexually explicit photographs falsely depicting an individual engaged in sexual activities across various social media platforms and websites. These photographs had the victim’s face superimposed onto pornographic images.
From May through July 2024, Medina sent threatening messages to the victim over approximately 26 days and recruited others online to do the same. The threats included kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse, and murder alongside distributing images with identifying information about the victim.
The investigation leading to this plea was conducted by the Onondaga County Sheriff's Office under Sheriff Tobias Shelley and the FBI under Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.
Sentencing for Casey Medina is set for August 4, 2025, at 2:00 p.m., before Judge Vacca.