ROCHESTER MAN ARRESTED ON MULTIPLE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today that Rashad Rabah, 33, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with the production, receipt, and possession of child pornography. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a lifetime period of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle P. Rossi, who is handling the case, stated that according to the complaint, Rabah came to the attention of the United States Postal Inspection Service when he attempted to collect a package containing a large amount of fentanyl from the Jefferson Road Processing and Distribution Center in Henrietta, NY, which was shipped from Arizona. The Postal Inspection Service intercepted the package and staged a controlled delivery to Rabah in August 2025. He received the package, at which time investigators took possession of his cellular phone. Search warrants executed on the phone uncovered Rabah’s involvement in illegal activity, to include child pornography and child exploitation crimes involving minors in the Rochester, NY area.

The FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force conducted further analysis of Rabah’s phones and executed multiple search warrants of his online accounts and home. According to the complaint, between April 2022, and August 7, 2025, Rabah engaged in sexually explicit online and text conversations with a Minor Victim, a child in the Rochester area. During these conversations, Rabah solicited the Minor Victim to create and send him sexually explicit images and videos. In addition, Rabah paid the Minor Victim to engage in this conduct and solicited other minors in the Rochester area. Rabah was also part of an online forum on a particular social media platform that was dedicated to the abuse and exploitation of minors.

The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Colleen D. Holland and was held pending a detention hearing on January 28, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.

The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Boston Division Acting Inspector-in-Charge Nicholas J. Bucciarelli, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Philip Tejera.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.