A Cortland County couple is now facing federal sex charges, a week after their arrest for allegedly abusing a child and possessing child pornography.
Christopher M. Perry, 35, and his girlfriend Sarah R. Gates, 38, were charged Thursday in Syracuse federal court with felony sexual exploitation of a child.
The Cortland Police Department, arrested Perry and Gates on April 4 after executing a search warrant, accused the couple of sexually abusing a girl under the age of 11 over the span of one-and-a-half to two years.
In federal court documents made public Thursday, a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the investigation was launched after New York State Police were forwarded a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tip alleged child pornography had been uploaded to Facebook from Perry's residence.
When state police executed a search warrant at Perry's home, they found two cellphones, at least one of which allegedly contained images of a girl being subjected to sexually explicit conduct by Perry and Gates.
Court documents indicate the girl was approximately 5 years old, and the images depicting sexual abuse appear to have been produced between 2017 and 2019.
Cortland County, NY couple facing new federal child sexual exploitation charges
Christopher Perry and Sarah Gates face new federal charges a week after being arrested by Cortland police in a child sex abuse case.
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