By Dennis Yusko, staff writer
The Times Union (Albany, New York)
Copyright 2006 The Hearst Corporation
CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. — A man who served as a paramedic, firefighter and college instructor across the Capital Region lived a double life in which he swapped extremely explicit and sometimes violent child pornography with others via his home computer, federal prosecutors say.
Eric Gandler, 28, faces up to 10 years in prison at a sentencing hearing next month in federal court in Albany. The Clifton Park man pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography last June.
Undercover agents with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security say they caught Gandler collecting and distributing child pornography on at least two occasions over the Internet in 2004.
The one-time award-winning volunteer at the Jonesville Fire Department established a file server on his laptop that collected and advertised hundreds of images of prepubescent minors engaged in sexual and sadistic and masochistic activities, prosecutors say. They allege Gandler, also a paramedic at Ballston Lake EMS, signed on his computer under the name “Spankgirl” in a chat room titled “100 percent Pre-teenGirlSexPics.”
But in papers filed with the court in April, Gandler’s attorney, George LaMarche, argued that his client has no interest in child pornography.
LaMarche asserts Gandler deserves a reduced sentence. His client, he said, accidently received the illegal photographs and videos while trying to access educational material meant to teach other emergency responders how to detect signs of child abuse.
Gandler also worked as an EMS instructor at Hudson Valley Community College and was a faculty member at Albany Medical Center College, LaMarche said. Gandler served on the board of the Waterford Rescue Squad and was about to attend law school. His contributions to area communities also deserve recognition when determining a sentence, LaMarche argued.
“It was because of Eric Gandler’s desire to help that he undertook the challenge of creating presentations to teach others how to recognize signs of possible child abuse,” LaMarche wrote. He refused to elaborate in a recent phone interview.
But in their court filings, U.S. authorities paint a very different picture of Gandler.
They say his computer’s file server automatically mailed out and received images, mostly of girls aged 9-13. Gandler’s seized computer contained hundreds of illicit images, including prepubescent minors engaged in sexual acts and bound and gagged, according to court papers.
By saying he used the server to demonstrate child abuse to his fellow ambulance workers, Gandler is misleading the court about the motive for his conduct, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina said.
“The defendant’s lack of candor in this matter demonstrates his character and the danger he continues to present to the community,” Spina said.
Gandler, of 202 London Square Drive, is being held with out bail. Sentencing has been postponed multiple times and now is scheduled for July 11. Judge Lawrence Kahn recused himself from the case because he knows Gandler’s father. His replacement is Judge Thomas McAvoy, Spina said.
Published June 14, 2006: An article in Monday’s Capital Region section incorrectly stated that Eric Gandler of Clifton Park was held without bail after pleading guilty to child pornography charges. Gandler, 28, was released after posting bond.
Sentencing is scheduled for next month.