Rensselaer County man admits to possessing child pornography

A Rensselaer County man pleaded guilty on Friday to federal child pornography charges.

Zachary Cota, 31, of Castleton-on-Hudson, admitted that he used SnapChat to solicit three children to send him nude photos. After an 8-year-old and a 13-year-old provided the photos, Cota threatened to reveal what they had done unless they provided more photos to him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Cota was on probation at the time he committed this crime for a conviction of course of sexual conduct against a child, according to prosecutors.

When the probation officer asked to see his phone, Cota locked himself in a bathroom and began deleting images. A search of his phone revealed another 900 images of child pornography, police said.

He will be sentenced to up to 27 ¼  in prison as part of an agreement with prosecutors.