A federal jury convicted a 51-year-old Hornell man of receiving and possessing child pornography, offenses that carry a combined maximum penalty of 40 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York said.
Federal prosecutors said John Richard Wade committed the new offenses while on supervised release from a 2011 federal conviction for possessing child pornography.
Probation officers searched Wade's home on April 11, 2024, and seized four laptops, a hard drive and other unmonitored devices, along with suspected marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Investigators initially found videos of suspected child pornography on a hard drive that had been hidden beneath clothing in a laundry bin, prosecutors said. A later forensic examination recovered more than 40,000 images and videos of child pornography from the drive.
The hard drive also contained the Tor web browser, which prosecutors said is often used to receive and distribute child pornography online.
The FBI and U.S. Probation Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas M. Testani and Melissa M. Marangola prosecuted it.
U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr., who presided over the trial, scheduled sentencing for Dec. 2, 2026.
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