Former School Bus Driver Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Pornography

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Frederick J. Haresign, age 62, of Oswego, New York pled guilty yesterday to possessing child pornography. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office.

As part of his guilty plea, Haresign, a school bus driver, admitted that, in 2017, he provided a minor child who rode on his bus with nicotine and other gifts in exchange for the child creating sexually explicit images and videos and providing those images and videos to Haresign. Haresign admitted that he possessed those images and videos in 2017 so that he could view them.

Sentencing is set for July 20, 2022, before Chief United States District Court Judge Glenn T. Suddaby. If the Court accepts the parties’ plea agreement, Haresign will be sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment to be followed by 20 years of supervised release. In addition, the court could impose a fine of up to $250,000 and order restitution to the victim. Haresign will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the statute the defendant violated, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

This case is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the New York State Police: Fulton Bureau of Criminal Investigations, and Troop D Computer Crimes Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael D. Gadarian in coordination with the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office as part of Project Safe Childhood.

Launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice, Project Safe Childhood is led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS). Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.