New York Pastor Gets 2.5 Years in Prison for Possession of Child Porn; Claims He Was Victim of the FBI, Gay Community
A former New York pastor was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing child pornography. Members of his congregation said he claimed to be the victim of a "conspiracy between the FBI and gay community," according to prosecutors.
Zackary Dressner, 38, who pastored at Southeast Bible Baptist Church in Penfield, pleaded guilty in June to obscenity related charges. WHEC reports that he was arrested in November 2011 "after FBI agents found two videos and some images of child porn on his computer."
Members of his congregation have written emails and letters to prosecutors in the case where they revealed that Dressner "has been telling the Southeast Bible Baptist Church and the parish leaders that he was the victim of a conspiracy between the FBI and the gay community," Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Tyler wrote in court documents, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.
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Dressner, however, made no such claim, according to his attorney, Peter Pullano.
"A lot of these things that were grist for the rumor mill of the church, he did not say," Pullano asserted, adding that he hasn't found anyone who can say firsthand that Dressner made those statements.
The Christian Post contacted Southeast Bible Baptist Church and spoke with a secretary who said she hasn't heard anything about these claims. She declined to give her name.
The child pornography charges arose three years ago when illegal images featuring underage subjects were discovered on his computer. He pleaded guilty to the charges in June and resigned from his position as pastor shortly after.
Tyler said some of the church's parishioners wrote federal authorities after the plea attempting to portray the former pastor as "deceptive and not trustworthy." He also stated in court papers that Dressner claimed the child porn images were already on his computer when he purchased it from someone else.
This claim contradicts evidence used in the case that proved Dressner was actively trading the material.
Dressner has undergone a mental health evaluation which shows that he is a "low risk to reoffend." Court records reveal that a number of members at the Penfield church remain supportive of him and have written in letters that he has been willing to help them during difficult times in their lives.
