West Chester Man Charged with Receiving Child Pornography

Martin C. Carlson, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging a West Chester resident who formerly resided in Monroe County with receiving and possessing child pornography.

Carlson stated that Joseph Violanti, II, age 37, is charged with committing the offenses in Monroe County during 2001 through 2006.

Violanti’s arrest stems from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pennsylvania State Police and Scranton Police. Violanti was taken into custody yesterday by federal agents, arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Malachy E. Mannion, and ordered detained without bail pending trial.

Carlson stated that Violanti faces a five-year mandatory minimum sentence and up to 20 years in prison if convicted of receiving child pornography and up to 10 years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Carlson noted that this case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Carlson noted that Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

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An indictment and criminal information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proved the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

 

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