Hartford Man Charged with Recording Sexual Abuse of Minor

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that ROBERTO ACOSTA-TORRES, 59, of Hartford, was arrested today and charged in a federal criminal complaint with production of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Acosta appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert A. Richardson in Hartford and is detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for December 23.

As alleged in the complaint, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Acosta’s Hartford residence earlier today and seized a Sony camcorder and two thumb drives.  Preliminary analysis of the thumb drives revealed hundreds of videos of child pornography, including at least two videos of Acosta sexually abusing a minor victim.

The charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.  The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Hartford and Manchester Police Departments.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.