Celeste Ramirez, a former corrections officer from Brooklyn, New York, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for distributing child pornography. United States Attorney David Metcalf announced the sentence, which also includes 10 years of supervised release and $38,000 in restitution. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl.
Ramirez was indicted on the charges in March 2023 and pleaded guilty earlier this year. She is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) as mandated by federal and state law.
Court documents revealed that in February 2022, while employed by the New York Department of Corrections, Ramirez distributed six videos depicting child pornography via Telegram to an individual referred to as Person 1 in Easton, Pennsylvania. The investigation into Ramirez’s activities began after Pennsylvania State Police received a Cybertip about Person 1 using Snapchat to distribute child pornography. Person 1 confessed to receiving such material from a New York City corrections officer known as “CeCe,” later identified as Celeste Ramirez.
In November 2022, federal agents executed a search warrant at Ramirez’s home and discovered hundreds of videos of child pornography on her phone. It was found that she had communicated with multiple individuals online for distributing and receiving child pornography.
Among those involved was Cleveland Dewayne Chambers, who shared explicit images he received from Raven Pointer with Ramirez. Chambers and Ramirez discussed the abuse depicted in these images and directed further production of such material.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project involves collaboration between federal, state, and local resources to prosecute offenders and rescue victims.
The investigation was conducted by the Pennsylvania State Police and Homeland Security Investigations, with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Priya De Souza.
