Alexandria Bay Man Facing Child Exploitation, Weapons Charges Following State Police Investigation
A 24-year-old Alexandria Bay man has been arrested on multiple felony charges following an investigation into alleged distribution of child exploitation material, according to New York State Police.
Tyler R. Slate was taken into custody on March 25 and charged with promoting a sexual performance by a child (a class D felony), possessing a sexual performance by a child (class E felony), and multiple weapons-related offenses. These include two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon (class D felony), criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree related to an ammunition feeding device (class D felony), and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon involving a so-called "ghost gun" (class A misdemeanor).
Authorities say the investigation began with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which indicated that Slate had allegedly been distributing child exploitation material online.
Slate was awaiting arraignment at Jefferson County’s Centralized Arraignment Part Court as of Tuesday.
The investigation was conducted jointly by the New York State Police Troop D Computer Crimes Unit, State Police in Watertown, and Homeland Security Investigations.
No additional information has been released at this time.