A Menands man was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for receiving and possessing child sexual abuse material, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.
Jonathan MacDonald, 33, was sentenced Oct. 2 by U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci. His prison term will be followed by 15 years of supervised release, and he must pay $27,000 in restitution to nine identified victims, prosecutors said.
MacDonald pleaded guilty in May to receiving and possessing the material. A December 2025 indictment had also charged him with sexually exploiting children, but the release identifies the receipt and possession counts as the offenses to which he pleaded guilty.
As part of his plea, MacDonald admitted that in February 2025 he had filmed himself during a video call with two minor girls who appeared to be in Thailand. Prosecutors said he connected with them through the random video-calling app Omegle.
Investigators identified MacDonald after he dropped a flash drive containing child sexual abuse material in a bathroom at his workplace, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Walter prosecuted it.
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