NEW YORK Online Child Predators 2012: Samuel Fanelli Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Possession of 10.000+ Images of Child Pornography

On March 8th, 2012, Samuel J. Fanelli, 23, of White Plains, New York, got sentenced to 15 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains federal court on charges of possessing, receiving, and distributing child pornography. Fanelli will also have to register as a sex offender.

Judge Cathy Seibel

Fanelli was arrested on January 28th, 2011 by FBI agents and pleaded guilty on July 5th, 2011, where he stated:

"I had some child pornography on my hard drive and I made it available through a peer-to-peer network."

Fanelli, who was working as a babysitter for several Westchester families, also admitted to molesting at least one child he babysat for in his plea agreement. During a search of Fanelli’s residence prior to his arrest, his computer was seized and was found to have more than 10.000 images as well as videos of child pornography.

The slight, monocled Fanelli, looking younger than his 22 years at the time, said he was a college graduate when questioned by Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains. Seibel asked Fanelli if he knew that his activity on the filesharing network was illegal. "You understood by doing that other people were going to have access to it and be able to download it to their computer via the Internet ?" she asked.

Fanelli answered in the same polite tone he used throughout the hearing:

"Yes, ma'am,"

Fanelli also mentioned that he had been under a psychiatrist's care for about six weeks before his arrest.

The investigation began September 1st, 2010, when an FBI Undercover Agent took over the peer network account of another child pornography user who was online friends with Fanelli. Through that account, the agent accessed Fanelli's computer and downloaded the disastrous files.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara

After the Conviction U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated:

“Samuel Fanelli victimized children by trafficking in child pornography and, in one case, by sexually abusing a child entrusted to his care. With today’s sentence there will be one less child predator on the street.”