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Child Porn Arrests

Two Millsboro Men Indicted on Two Dozen Counts Each of Dealing in Pornography

Two Millsboro men were indicted last month on two dozen counts each of dealing in pornography, authorities said marking the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Harry K. Roche, 42, and Mark A. Stramacchia, 49, who both lived together in the 200 block of Main St., were arrested separately by members of the Delaware Child Predator Task Force.

Roche — who was convicted of using a computer to unlawfully depict a child engaging in a prohibited sexual act in 2004 — is a registered sex offender. He was charged with 24 counts of dealing in child pornography following a Jan. 31 raid on his home during which police seized multiple computers, a cell phone, storage devices and other digital evidence, said Jason Miller, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office.

During a Jan. 31 raid of the apartment, officers confiscated two external hard drives that were later connected to a second occupant in the home.

Stramacchia, who was arrested Feb. 12, was charged with 25 counts of dealing in child pornography.

The pair was indicted on the charges March 18 by a Sussex County Grand Jury.

“Every time an image or video of child pornography is exchanged and viewed, it re-victimizes the child,” said state Attorney General Beau Biden.

The state’s Child Predator Task Force, now in its sixth year of operation, was formed to protect kids from sexual abuse at the hands of predators who use the internet and other technology to solicit and exploit children.

Investigators from Delaware and law enforcement agencies across the country submit copies of seized child pornography videos and images to the National Center for missing and Exploited Children for identification of child victims.

“It takes the continued vigilance and specialized investigative techniques of our Child Predator Task Force to track down predators who would harm kids,” Biden said.

Roche remains jailed in the Vaughn Correctional Institution in lieu of $600,000 secured bail.

Stramacchia is being held in the Sussex Correctional Institution after failing to post $250,000 secured bail.

Syndicated from The News Journal

New Child Porn Charges Against a Registered Sex Offender from Georgetown

New charges were filed last week against a registered sex offender from Georgetown recently arrested in January on child pornography charges, authorities said.

David M. Pennington, 70, of the 19000 block of Substation Way, was charged Friday with two counts of dealing in child pornography after investigators reviewed forensic evidence in the case that showed Pennington had received, reviewed and commented on images of child pornography he had received, Jason Miller, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said today.

Pennington, who has had three prior convictions for sex crimes against children that included one for child pornography possession, was committed to Sussex Correctional Institution after his January arrest after he failed to post $50,000 cash bail, Miller said.

He was arrested in January along with two other men after the trio were linked to a child pornography distribution ring in Delaware, authorities said.

The three men, who included Rogelio A. Cordero, 55, of New Castle, and 63-year-old William D. Zimmerman, also of Georgetown, are accused of swapping child pornography with each other.

Pennington is continuing to be held in Sussex Correctional Institution on an additional $120,000 secured bail.

In a separate case, Jerry L. Whiteman Jr., 34, of Smyrna, was arrested Feb. 28 on 10 counts of dealing in child pornography online after detectives from the Child Predator Task Force raided his home in the 1700 block of Joe Goldsborough Road, Miller said.

Seized in the raid were two computers and other assorted digital storage devices that revealed illicit images of child pornography, Miller said.

Whiteman is being held in Vaughn Correctional Center after failing to post $600,000 secured bail, Miller said.