John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and David Magdycz, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Boston, announced that JOHN T. PERUGINI, 78, of Waterbury, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today to one count of possession of child pornography.
Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the court proceeding before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez occurred via videoconference.
According to court documents and statements made in court, HSI 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 more than 500,000 images and videos of child sex abuse.
Perugini was arrested in a federal criminal complaint on November 8, 2019.
Possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Perugini is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford on March 17, 2021.
Perugini is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.
This matter is being investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case is being 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.
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