Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa M. Marangola, who is
handling the case, stated that between 2013 and December 16, 2016, the
defendant possessed more than 300 images of child pornography on an Apple
MacBook Pro laptop. Theil received the images over the internet. Some of the
images depicted prepubescent minors and violence.
In November, 2016, the Ithaca Police Department was alerted
by a cooperating witness (CW) that she knew a man from Corning who had a sexual
interest in children. The CW told officers that Theil showed her naked images
of young girls, approximately seven or eight years old, on his iPad. In
addition, the CW stated that Theil admitted to her that he had previously
sexually abused his niece on multiple occasions when she was approximately 14
years old. The CW further stated that on another occasion, Theil asked her to
facilitate a sexual encounter with a minor female.
On December 15, 2016, search warrants were executed at the
defendant’s residence in Corning and at Theil’s lake house in Hammondsport, NY.
Following the searches, a forensic examination of the defendant’s computer
revealed 367 images of child pornography on Theil’s laptop.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Adam S.
Cohen, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Richard Allen,
the Ithaca Police Department, under the direction of Chief Pete Tyler, the
Steuben County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff James
Allard, and the Albany Division of the FBI, under the direction of Special
Agent-in-Charge Vadam Thomas.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 21, 2017, at 10:00 a.m.
before Judge Larimer.
