Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSEPH AMADEO, 38, of North Branford, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to a child exploitation offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in 2020, HSI began investigating Amadeo for his involvement in an online community of individuals who sent and received child pornography images and videos on the dark web.  On March 24, 2021, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Amadeo’s residence and seized Amadeo’s computer and other electronic devices.  Analysis of the devices revealed thousands of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children, many as young as infants. He was arrested on June 3, 2021.

Amadeo pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson on July 12 in Hartford. 

Amadeo is released on a $100,000 bond pending sentencing.

Amadeo is a registered sex offender on the Connecticut Sex Offender Registry based on a 2013 state conviction involving child pornography. 

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda S. Oakes and Nancy V. Gifford.

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.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com

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