BUFFALO, N.Y.--Allen F. Dise, 49, of Albion, New York, was sentenced today to four counts of possessing child pornography, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn of the Western District of New York announced.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Campana, who handled the case, said that U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny sentenced Dise to three years imprisonment on each of four counts of possessing child pornography. These prison terms are to be served concurrently. Campana said the defendant pleaded guilty August 22, 2007 to all counts of a four-count Indictment. Judge Skretny also imposed a five-year term of supervised release, which commences at the conclusion of the prison sentence.

In February 2006, Dise, who then was a graphics editor at the Buffalo News, brought a CD-Rom from his home to work. Dise then lent the disk to a co-worker at the News, forgetting that he had not yet deleted child pornography images from the disk. The News turned the disk over to New York State Police Investigators.

State Police investigators interviewed Dise on February 11, 2006, at his home in Albion, New York. Dise told the State Police investigators that he had downloaded images of children from the Internet over a period of about three years, using the computer at his home. Dise saved the images in the "My Pictures" folder in his computer. With Dise's consent, the State Police investigators removed the computer and three computer disks from Dise's home on February 11, 2006. Dise possessed child pornography on the computer and on the three disks (not counting the disk Dise had brought to work). Judge Skretny today noted that Dise's collection of child pornography exceeded 1,800 images

Judge Skretny's sentence today required Dise to register as a sex offender, which he must do within 10 days. The Court also ruled that, as conditions of post-incarceration supervised release, Dise must not go where children are likely to congregate, without notifying and getting the approval of the U.S. Probation Office. Judge Skretny further directed that Mr. Dise's computer use during the supervised release period is subject to monitoring by the U.S. Probation Office, and that his person, his computer, and his property are subject to searches by the Probation Office.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys' Offices, 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov .

The conviction was the culmination of an investigation on the part of Investigators of the New York State Police under the direction of Christopher Cummings, and Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of investigation under the direction of Special Agent In-Charge Laurie Bennett.