A 43-year-old Java Center man has pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor, admitting in Buffalo federal court to a case that originated with a 2022 CyberTip and later included an encounter between Lancaster police and the man at a local restaurant last November. Patrick Kerwin now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the guilty plea, which Kerwin entered before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. in Buffalo. As reported by Video News Service, Judge Sinatra, who was appointed to the federal bench for the Western District of New York in December 2019, according to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, will preside over Kerwin's case through sentencing.
How a Restaurant Stop Unraveled Years of Alleged Abuse
The case traces back to November 19, 2025, when Lancaster police officers encountered Kerwin at a local restaurant. Per Video News Service, Kerwin told officers he had exchanged text messages with underage girls and that he possessed child pornography on his cell phone, also acknowledging prior involvement in underage relationships. According to the Department of Justice, that encounter was no coincidence: officers had received a tip from a civilian child safety advocacy group whose member had been communicating online with Kerwin under the belief he was arranging to meet a minor for sex.
Kerwin consented to a search and seizure of his phone and agreed to an interview at the Lancaster Police Department, where he admitted to messaging underage girls through social media and encrypted apps, the outlet reports. Local NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV similarly reported that during that initial encounter, Kerwin acknowledged not only possessing illicit media on his phone but also having had prior sexual or romantic relationships with minors.
Forensic Review Turns Up Disturbing Material
A forensic review of Kerwin's cell phone recovered 13 images and 81 videos of child pornography, the station's report notes. Some of the recovered material depicted the sexual abuse of an infant or toddler, while other material depicted violence, according to the same account.
Federal court documents released by the Department of Justice reveal that the investigation actually dates back further than the restaurant encounter. The case originated in 2022, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children issued a CyberTip report that was forwarded by the New York State Police to federal investigators, meaning Kerwin had been under scrutiny by state and federal authorities for roughly four years before his guilty plea.
From Initial Complaint to Expanded Federal Charge
Kerwin was initially charged by federal criminal complaint in February, with possession of child pornography carrying up to 10 years in prison. His guilty plea in October to an expanded charge involving prepubescent minors increased his statutory maximum exposure to 20 years under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A, per the Department of Justice.
The investigation involved joint coordination among the FBI, the New York State Police under Major Amie Feroleto, and the Lancaster Police Department under Chief William Gummo, the Department of Justice states. Video News Service identifies FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Allen D. Davis II and Assistant U.S. Attorney Maeve E. Huggins as prosecuting the case locally.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
Kerwin's prosecution was brought under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative launched in May 2006 to marshal federal, state, and local law enforcement resources to prosecute child exploitation and rescue victims, according to the Department of Justice. The program has produced other significant prosecutions in the region; in November 2025, federal prosecutors in the Western District of New York secured a 26-year prison sentence against a former private school administrator in South Wales for producing child pornography, the Department of Justice announced separately.
Kerwin is from Java Center, a rural hamlet in the Town of Java in Wyoming County, which sits roughly 22 to 25 miles south of Lancaster in Erie County, where he was apprehended. U.S. Census Bureau data shows the Town of Java spans 47.3 square miles and had an official population of 2,057 residents. Kerwin is scheduled for sentencing on February 15, 2027, before Judge Sinatra in Buffalo.
