Carl Paladino's reported tie to sex offender rankles New York GOP primary race

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The campaign of Carl Paladino, who is seeking the New York Republican nomination for Congress, listed on a federal campaign finance filing an assistant treasurer who was convicted of multiple felonies related to child pornography.

The revelation, first reported by the Buffalo News Wednesday, has added to the tense intraparty fight for the GOP nomination to succeed Rep. Christopher Jacobs, R-N.Y., who withdrew from the race in June.

Paladino is endorsed by House Republican Conference chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. His opponent, Nicholas Langworthy, the chair of the New York Republican Party (NYGOP), has secured an endorsement from Republican Study Committee head Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind.

Fox News reached out to Stefanik for reaction and to ask if she stood by her endorsement, but she declined to comment through a spokesperson.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino holds a bat as he concedes to a crowd in Buffalo Nov. 2, 2010. (REUTERS/Gary Wiepert)

Paladino for Congress's June 14 statement of organization with the Federal Elections Commission lists Joel Sartori, 63, as an assistant treasurer and custodian of records. But his name does not appear on the campaign's most recent statement, which was updated Wednesday — the same day the Buffalo News story about Sartori was published.

Sartori was convicted in 2017 of two crimes that occurred in 2013 involving child pornography, according to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services. 

Sartori pleaded guilty to multiple counts of possessing sexual performance by a child under the age of 16 and one count of promoting sexual performance of a child under 17. He was sentenced to ten years probation. He also was placed on the sex offender registry with a risk level two, indicating a moderate risk of repeat offense.

Paladino for Congress FEC filing (FEC)

"This individual does not work for Mr. Paladino’s campaign in any fashion, he is not the deputy treasurer," Vish Burra, Carl Paladino’s communications director, told Fox News Digital in a statement. "Carl Paladino strongly condemns the atrocity of child pornography." 

Burra did not respond to further questions about why Sartori was listed as assistant treasurer if he had no role on Paladino's campaign. Paladino reportedly told the New York Post that Sartori was a longtime employee of his business but said he did not think Sartori had "anything to do with my campaign, my positions or abilities."

"We made a decision to keep him. He did something sinful but otherwise has been a good man," Paladino told the Post. 

Paladino's communications director, in his statement to Fox News, targeted Langworthy for campaigning while serving as the NYGOP chairman.

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Joel Sartori, at one time listed on Carl Paladino's campaign filings, is on probation for charges related to possessing child pornography (New York Department of Criminal Justice Services)

"What is shameful is that Nick Langworthy, who has never held a job that wasn’t paid for by his millionaire donors or the taxpayers, is using his position as state party chair to benefit his failing vanity project of running for Congress," Burra said.

In a statement to Fox News, Langworthy called the situation "disturbing."

"It's deeply disturbing, and he will have to answer to the voters, but I am focused on my message of stopping Joe Biden's disastrous agenda and getting the country back on track," Langworthy said.

Some have called out Langworthy's campaigning while serving as the top party official in the state. The chairman of the Rockland County GOP, Lawrence Garvey, tweeted in June that Langworthy's campaigning was "absolutely unacceptable. Our State Chairman should be cris crossing the state today GOTV. Instead he is raising money for himself. Maybe our Gubernatorial candidate can use that money against Hochul’s 35 million. Nick Langworthy needs to resign!!!"

"The chairman enjoys strong, broad support from every region of the state, and, under his leadership, our party has never been in a better position to fire Kathy Hochul and elect Lee Zeldin as our next governor," Jessica Proud, a spokesperson for the NYGOP, told Fox News Digital.

Businessmen Donald Trump and Carl Paladino speak during a pro-gun rally at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, N.Y., April 1, 2014. (REUTERS/Hans Pennink )

Fox News reached out to Rep. Banks' office for comment on criticism of Langworthy but did not receive a response.

Another controversy surrounding Paladino in recent weeks was a resurfaced quote from a 2021 interview, in which he stated that America needed a leader like Adolf Hitler. 

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"I was thinking the other day about somebody had mentioned on the radio Adolf Hitler and how he aroused the crowds," Paladino told the host of WBEN's "The r-House Radio Show" in a podcast released Feb. 13, 2021.

"And he would get up there screaming these epithets and these people were just — they were hypnotized by him. That's, I guess, I guess that's the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it, so that it’s not a strange new world to him." 

Stefanik, who endorsed Paladino on June 3, did not rescind her endorsement of Paladino following the resurfaced comments about Hitler.