Newtown Man Pleads Guilty To Producing

Child Pornography

By Andrew Gorosko

NEW HAVEN ­— A Newtown man has pleaded guilty in US District Court to one count of production of child pornography.

David F. Csanadi, 36, on November 2 pleaded guilty to that charge before US District Judge Janet Bond Arterton, according to a statement from David B. Fein, the US Attorney for Connecticut.

Csanadi is represented by a federal public defender.

According to court documents and to statements that were made in court, between 2006 and 2009, Csanadi sexually abused three female children, videotaped that abuse, and also maintained the tapes at his home in Newtown.

All three children were prepubescent minors under the age of 12 at the time of the abuse; one of those children was approximately 18 months old at the time of the abuse, according to the statement.

In addition to filming and maintaining video tapes of the sexual abuse, Csanadi downloaded from the Internet and obtained other images and videos of child pornography on his home computer, according to the US attorney.

“Working with the FBI, the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force, and our other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, the US Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting children from sexual exploitation and removing sexual predators from the community,” Mr Fein said.

“I commend the Newtown and Monroe police departments for their investigative efforts, and the Danbury state’s attorney’s office for the critical assistance it has provided to the investigation and prosecution of this heinous but important case,” he added.

Judge Arterton has scheduled Csanadi’s sentencing for March 8. Csanadi faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 15 years. The federal law provides for a maximum prison term of 30 years, and also for a possible fine of up to $250,000.

Csanadi has been held in custody since April 15, 2011, when he was arrested by Newtown police on 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 was being held on November 4 on $1 million bail at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield. Csanadi has pleaded not guilty to the ten state sex-crime felonies. He has elected to have a jury trial. Csanadi’s next appearance in Danbury Superior Court is scheduled for December 14. Csanadi is represented by a state public defender.

In December 2011, federal officials charged Csanadi with three counts of producing child pornography and with one count of possession of child pornography.

In December 2011, a federal grand jury had returned an indictment, charging Csanadi with the four federal crimes, specifying the reasons for the criminal charges in its explicit document.

In the spring of 2011, 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 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 computer 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 then seize items including computers, 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 were seized by police.

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

Csanadi formerly lived on Aunt Park Lane in Newtown. Csanadi, who is single, formerly worked as a landscaper in Southbury.

The Csanadi case has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force, the Newtown Police Department, and the Monroe Police Department. The federal case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Neeraj Patel and Krishna Patel.