Jefferson Co. Man Gets Nearly 22 Years in Prison for Child Pornography - WWNY

James Yerdon, a 56-year-old resident of Adams Center, was sentenced on Monday in federal court to nearly 22 years behind bars for receiving and possessing child pornography, according to reporting by WWNY.

The sentence hands down 262 months of imprisonment for the Jefferson County offenses, followed by 20 years of supervised release. Court records show that Yerdon must also pay $26,000 in restitution to his victims.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Yerdon admitted that in May 2025 he possessed multiple digital files downloaded from the internet. The seized media included material depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as 5 months old.

Prosecutors also detailed that Yerdon possessed nude images of a 7-year-old child. Those pictures were allegedly created during a trip he took with the child to the Albany area. Authorities said that Yerdon is a previously convicted sex offender.

“The defendant’s conduct in this case is horrific and is deserving of the lengthy sentence,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone. “The defendant is a repeat offender who not only sought out and accumulated child pornography online, but he also directly targeted children in our community.”

Additional Charges and Pending Sentences

The federal case is only one part of the legal proceedings facing Yerdon across multiple jurisdictions in New York State. State police investigations unspooled a pattern of abuse spanning several years and multiple counties.

For his guilty plea to a course of sexual conduct against a child in the Albany case, Yerdon faces 20 years in state prison when he is sentenced on December 11.

Origins of the Investigation

The federal case in Jefferson County began following a complaint from the father of a 13-year-old boy. Court documents quote a federal agent as stating the father alleged Yerdon had been grooming his son and had sexually assaulted the boy in an Albany hotel room.

When law enforcement searched Yerdon’s home in May 2025 during the Jefferson County arrest, they recovered a cellphone containing the illicit media files. Yerdon subsequently pleaded guilty in federal court in May 2026.