West Seneca man charged with possession of child pornography
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A West Seneca man was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession of child pornography, which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, the United States District Attorney’s Office announced.
Officials said the West Seneca Police Department was advised by members of the Finger Lakes Pred Catchers, a group of volunteers who work to expose online child predators, about 29-year-old Joseph Buelow. They claimed to have information about him contacting minors.
The operator of Pred Catchers, Dakota Liddiard, said Buelow reached out to him on the dating application Meet24 and believed that he was messaging with a 13-year-old girl named “Amanda,” the attorney’s office said.
Liddiard said Buelow started to communicate in sexual terms almost immediately and made plans to meet “Amanda,” but didn’t show up at the meeting location.
Buelow also allegedly reached out to a 14-year-old girl named “Caitlyn,” who was another member of the Pred Catchers. Their conversations were also sexual in nature and Buelow requested to meet with “Caitlyn” on two occasions, but did not show up either time, officials said.
In April 2024, West Seneca police contacted the FBI and provided pictures of the conversations between Pred Catchers and Buelow. Officials said during some of these conversations, Buelow sent nude pictures of himself and tried to get the minors to send nude images of themselves.
Investigators say they recovered multiple communications between Buelow and individuals he believed were minors during a search warrant of his cell phone. They also recovered sexually explicit images of child pornography, officials said.
Investigators identified at least one minor victim that Buelow allegedly sexually abused.
Buelow made an appearance before a judge and was detained.
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Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here.
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