A registered sex offender from New Boston is headed back to prison for a decade after being convicted of receiving and possessing child pornography. Gerald Richard Sarkozi Jr., 63, was sentenced yesterday in Wayne County to 10 years behind bars. Prosecutors said investigators pulled images and videos from his phone that dated back to January 2024, including material involving toddlers.
The case started in April 2024 when the FBI in Massachusetts received a tip from a mobile messaging app company and traced the involved account to a user in Michigan. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Sarkozi's New Boston home on March 26, 2025, seizing his phone. Forensic review later turned up at least 10 videos and 18 images of child sexually abusive material. During an interview with agents, Sarkozi reportedly "admitted he had a problem with child pornography" and said he accessed the material through several apps, according to ClickOnDetroit.
Prior conviction and registration
Sarkozi is not new to the system. He has a prior conviction for possessing child sexually abusive material and is listed on Michigan’s sex offender registry. State records show that a conviction was entered in Wayne County’s 3rd Circuit Court on Sept. 16, 2013, and that his registration was last verified on June 10, 2025, according to the Michigan Sex Offender Registry.
Broader enforcement in Michigan
The sentence comes amid a series of Michigan prosecutions that have resulted in multi‑year prison terms for people convicted of producing, distributing, or possessing child sexual abuse material. Federal and state prosecutors have attributed the uptick in cases to closer coordination among agencies and heavier reliance on cybertips from platforms and tip lines that flag suspicious activity.
As outlined by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit, recent cases in the Eastern District of Michigan have brought in sentences of more than a decade for similar crimes, signaling that child exploitation investigations remain a top priority for federal and local partners. U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Michigan
What’s next
Sarkozi will serve his 10‑year sentence and remains subject to sex offender registration rules and any supervision the court imposes after he is released. Investigators say the case underscores how tech companies, public tip lines, and joint federal‑local task forces are working together to track child sexual abuse material online.
