Township Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography

A Bethlehem Township man who tried to flee the country faces no less than five years and as many as 70 years in prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in federal court Thursday, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia.

Federal agents found hundreds of images and dozens of videos depicting child pornography on Niyaz Sainudeen’s computer during a March 8, 2012 search of his home on the 4100 block of Ross Road.

In July 2011, Sainudeen engaged in a chat session with an undercover agent from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. As a result of the chat, Sainudeen gave the undercover agent access to a password-protected folder containing child pornography. 

After being questioned by agents during the search of his home, Sainudeen attempted to flee to his native India and was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. 

Sainudeen pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography, one count of receipt of child pornography, and one count of possessing child pornography.  

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2013. Sainudeen faces a maximum possible sentence of 70 years' imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of five years' imprisonment.

Sainudeen had reportedly been the director of an information technology firm in Bethlehem Township and is an Indian national living in the United States with a valid visa.

The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Joan E. Burnes.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.

Led by U.S Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), 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 to identify and rescue victims.