Press Release
Indictment Charges North Branford Man with Child Exploitation Offense
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Matthew B. Millhollin, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boston, today announced that a federal grand jury in Bridgeport has returned an indictment charging JOSEPH AMADEO, 37, of North Branford, with receipt of child pornography.
The indictment was returned on May 5, 2022. Amadeo appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. Amadeo was originally arrested on a federal criminal complaint on June 3, 2021.
As alleged in court documents, in 2020, HSI began investigating Amadeo for his involvement in an online community of individuals who sent and received child pornography images and videos on the dark web. On March 24, 2021, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Amadeo’s residence and seized Amadeo’s computer and other electronic devices. Analysis of the devices revealed thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, many as young as infants.
Receipt of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.
Amadeo is a registered sex offender on the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry based on a 2013 state conviction involving child pornography. He is released on a $100,000 bond pending trial.
U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda S. Oakes.
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.
Updated May 17, 2022
Topic
Project Safe Childhood
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