Waterbury Man Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Possessing Child Sex Abuse Images

Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that JOHN T. PERUGINI, 79, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release, for possessing child sex abuses images.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Homeland Security Investigations received information that Perugini had been paying for access to a commercial website that contained child sex abuse images and videos.  On October 29, 2019, agents seized Perugini’s computer equipment, including multiple external storage devices, from his residence.  Analysis of one of Perugini’s external storage devices revealed numerous images and videos of child sex abuse.

Perugini was arrested in a federal criminal complaint on November 8, 2019.  On December 14, 2020, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.

Perugini, who is released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on July 21, 2021.

This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of the Waterbury Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maria del Pilar Gonzalez and Brendan Keefe.

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.