Monroe County Man Pleads Guilty to Child Pornography Offense

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a 63-year-old Mt. Pocono man pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge A. Richard Caputo to receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Gary Delena admitted that he used his computer to download and share images of child pornography in October and November 2008.

Delena was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2010, following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police.

The plea agreement in the case calls for a sentence between 60 months and 108 months in prison, to be followed by a lifetime term of supervised release. Judge Caputo scheduled sentencing for April 25, 2012. Delena remains detained in prison pending sentencing.

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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.