Scott Landmesser of Chemung County faces decades in prison
From the US Attorney’s Office,
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Scott Landmesser, 57 of Wellsburg, NY, was charged by criminal complaint with possession of child pornography by an individual with a prior sex offense conviction. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of 20 years.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, in June 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) received two notifications from Microsoft that files of suspected child pornography were scanned using BingImage. Subsequent investigation traced the files to Landmesser. On September 14, 2023, the New York State Police executed a search warrant at Landmesser’s Suffern Hill Road residence, seizing multiple electronic devices, including a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and a thumb drive. A cursory, on-site review of the desktop and laptop computers identified multiple images of suspected child pornography. A forensic review of the thumb drive recovered one video and approximately 200 images of child pornography. The laptop and desktop computers each contained hundreds of files of suspected child pornography.
In 1988, Landmesser was convicted of Sexual Abuse – 1st Degree – Victim less than 11 years old, for engaging in sexual contact with a three-year old child. In 1998, he was convicted of Sodomy: Intercourse Forcible Compulsion, for kidnapping and repeatedly raping an ex-girlfriend.
Landmesser made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson and was detained.
The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia, and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Brian Ratajczak.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Our previous reporting on Landmesser’s arrest:
