ITHACA, N.Y.—A 31-year-old Ithaca man has pled guilty to two charges of sexual exploitation of a child in federal court.
U.S. Attorneys announced the plea of Remanu Phillips, a former area musician and New Roots Charter School staff member, though the crime was not connected to the school.
Phillips is remaining incarcerated until his sentencing in November. He faces at least 15 years and up to 60 years in prison, along with a term of supervised release between 5 years and life, and Phillips must register as a sex offender. He also may be fined up to $250,000.
Phillips initially was sentenced and served six months in prison on abuse charges, but videos he made of the abuse were later found and appear to have triggered the federal charges. The videos were kept on a work computer that was analyzed later.
The case was investigated by an FBI Child Exploitation Task Force.