Federal Case—

Sex Abuse Defendant Pleads Not Guilty

By Andrew Gorosko

BRIDGEPORT — A Newtown man pleaded not guilty this week in US District Court to three counts of producing child pornography and to one count of possession of child pornography.

David Csanadi, 35, formerly of 10½ Aunt Park Lane in Newtown was accompanied in court by attorney Paul Thomas, who is a federal public defender, as Csanadi entered his four pleas on December 20.

US Magistrate Judge Holly Fitzsimons presided at Csanadi’s arraignment.

The federal case has been assigned to US District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton, who will preside on the matter starting on February 8 in US District Court in New Haven.

Csanadi, who is single, formerly worked as a landscaper in Southbury.

Earlier this month, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Csanadi with the four federal crimes, specifying the reasons for the charges in the explicit document. That indictment alleges that between 2006 and 2009, Csanadi sexually abused three female children, videotaped that abuse, and maintained the tapes at his Newtown home.

Two of the three alleged victims, who have been identified, were approximately 18 months old and 4½ years old at the time of the abuse, according to the US Attorney for Connecticut. The third victim has not yet been identified.

In addition to filming and maintaining video tapes of the sexual abuse that he inflicted on female children, it is alleged that Csanadi downloaded from the Internet and obtained other images and videos of child pornography on his home computer, according to the US Attorney.

If convicted on the charge of production of child pornography, Csanadi faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years on each of the three counts. The charge of possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years.

The Csanadi case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Neeraj Patel and Assistant United States Attorney Krishna Patel as part of the US Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, and the District of Connecticut’s “Operation Constant Vigilance,” which are aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.

State Charges

Csanadi has been held in state custody since April 15, when he was arrested on state charges including three counts of first-degree sexual assault, three counts of risk of injury or impairing the morals of children, three counts of illegal sexual contact with a child, and one count of third-degree possession of child pornography.

Csanadi, who has pleaded not guilty to all ten state charges, is being held on $1 million bail at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield.

Csanadi is next scheduled to appear in Danbury Superior Court on January 20, which would be the 14th time that the case has been scheduled in state court.

The 14 pending sex crime charges against Csanadi are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force, the Newtown Police Department, and the Monroe Police Department.

Last spring, a Monroe police detective, who was conducting an undercover criminal investigation on the downloading of child pornography via the Internet, located some data that prompted him to contact Charter Communications for information on the identity of a Charter customer who had allegedly downloaded child pornography, according to the court papers.

Through that query to Charter, the Monroe detective learned the name and street address of Csanadi, who had allegedly downloaded that pornography via the Gnutella peer-to-peer network. Monroe police then informed Newtown police of what they had learned.

Newtown police then sought and received a search-and-seizure warrant for Csanadi’s residence through which they would seize items including computers and computer-related media, and electronic devices.

During their investigation, Newtown police seized 21 videotapes in the 8mm format and ten videotapes in the VHS format, which appeared to be homemade recordings. Also, some DVDs and CDs containing potential evidence were seized by police.

Csanadi’s videos that appeared to be homemade featured visually graphic sequences involving nudity and inappropriate touching of young girls, including sexual contact, according to the state court documents.