Monroe County Man Admits to Child Pornography Offenses

Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that an East Stroudsburg man pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Court Senior Judge Edwin M. Kosik to receiving and possessing child pornography during 2001 through 2006.

Pfannenschmidt stated that Joseph Violanti, age 39, admitted to receiving sexually explicit images and videos of minors on his computer, and to possessing child pornography on DVDs.

Violanti was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 28, 2008. Violanti’s charges resulted from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Pennsylvania State Police, and Scranton Police. Violanti resided in Mt. Pocono at the time of the offenses. At the time of his arrest, Violanti resided in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania assisted in the investigation.

Pfannenschmidt noted that Violanti faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, and a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The plea agreement also requires Violanti to comply with sex offender registration requirements after serving any prison sentence. Under federal law, after serving any prison sentence, Violanti must be placed on supervised release for five years, and could be placed on supervised release for life.

Pfannenschmidt 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.

Pfannenschmidt noted that the case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa.