SILVER CREEK, N.Y. (WBEN) – A Silver Creek man who is already in prison for producing and possessing child pornography may spend the rest of his life behind bars after the alleged rape of multiple girls from 2015 to 2019.
A 24-count indictment was unsealed Wednesday in Chautauqua County Court alleging Dustin Post of raping multiple children between the ages of one and twelve.
"When there's evidence of a crime, the goal is to aggressively fight for the victims of the crimes," Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt told reporters Wednesday. "No segment of our community is more precious to us and more vulnerable to those who prey on the weak is children. We as a society are responsible for protecting our children who often times are defenseless and most at risk of being abused."
Post, 25, according to Assistant District Attorney Tracey Brunecz, had access to the children by befriending their mothers or caregivers.
The families did not know of the abuse until 2019 when a 12-year-old girl told her mother about what happened. Within days, Post was questioned and arrested by authorities. Federal investigators found video of Post raping a 12-year-old girl.
Law enforcement also found multiple images and videos of child pornography. Post plead guilty to the federal child pornography charges earlier this week.
"(Him being in prison now) gives us a chance to pause, determine the extent of the damage that's been caused by this individual, investigate the matter further, and bring any further charges that may come to light through our investigation," Schmidt said.
If convicted of the rapes, Post's sentencing would run consecutively, which would likely put him in prison for the rest of his life.
"We're always concerned about empowering our victims and giving them a voice to be heard here," Schmidt said. "We haven't pushed them to go forward. We want them to make that decision and that's a very personal decision. That's not something that comes lightly."
