32-year-old Remanu Phillips, of Ithaca, has been sentenced to serve 320 months (26 years and 8 months) in federal prison for sexually exploiting a child. United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman, Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and New York State Police Acting Superintendent Steven A. Nigrelli, made the announcement.
As part of his guilty plea, Phillips admitted that on two separate days in June of 2019, he produced sexually explicit videos of himself sexually abusing a child. Phillips further admitted that he later transferred the two videos from his cellular telephone to a desktop computer, where they were later recovered by law enforcement.
United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby also imposed a 30-year term of supervised release, which will start after Phillips is released from prison and ordered Phillips to pay a $200 special assessment. Phillips will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Phillips’ case was investigated by the FBI Syracuse Mid-State Child Exploitation Task Force, comprised of FBI Special Agents and Investigators of the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), with assistance from the Tompkins County Sheriff’s office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J.L. Brown as part of Project Safe Childhood.
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