Phelps man gets 20 years in child porn case

ONTARIO COUNTY, N.Y. — A Phelps man was sentenced to 20 years in prison on child pornography charges. He had exchanged child porn with someone in Alaska, which prompted an FBI investigation.

Eric Passalacqua, 37, was convicted of receipt and distribution of child pornography. He pleaded guilty in May before a federal judge. He was sentenced to serve 20 years in prison and 15 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $21,000 in restitution by U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci. He also must pay $21,000 in restitution.

According to U.S. Attorney Kyle Rossi, who handled the case, the FBI in Rochester received information from the FBI in Anchorage, Alaska, on Jan. 20, 2023 that a person in Phelps may have been responsible for exchanging child pornography with a person in Alaska. Investigators determined it was Passalacqua, and a search warrant was executed at his home in Phelps on Jan. 24, 2023. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a forensic examination of his phone found over 600 images of child pornography, including some that Passalacqua produced with a minor — and he also admitted to producing images of another minor.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Human Trafficking Task Force and the Anchorage office of the FBI investigated the case.