ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WETM) — U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced on April 13 that an Elmira man was arrested on a federal child pornography charge.

Eugene R. Criss Jr., 55, was arrested and charged with possession of child pornography by an individual with a prior sex offense conviction. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire, Criss allegedly shared suspected child pornography with an undercover law enforcement officer on a peer-to-peer sharing network on March 23.

Police executed a search warrant at Criss’s residence on April 5. Investigators seized multiple electronic devices, including a cell phone, tablet, laptop, and USB thumb drive. Investigators found over 1,000 files of suspected child pornography in more than 700 folders on the thumb drive.

Criss made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark W. Pederson and is being held pending a detention hearing on April 14. The charge he faces carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This case was investigated by the FBI Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Matthew Miraglia.