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