Details Released of Investigation to Prevent Child Exploitation

The investigation that netted Granby Police Capt. David L. Bourque on a charge of possession of child pornography has also produced 26 other arrests on federal child exploitation charges, according to the United State's Attorney's office for Connecticut.

In a press release describing the scope of the investigation, called Operation Constant Vigilance, U.S. Attorney David P. Fein said it has resulted in 46 prosecutions, including 27 arrests on federal child exploitation charges, primarily the possession and distribution of child pornography.

Operation Constant Vigilance involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations; the United States Secret Service; the United States Postal Inspection Service; the United States Marshals Service; the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit; and the Hamden, Hartford, Milford and New Haven Police Departments.

Bourque  was arrested last week after a trooper working undercover for the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes Unit logged into an Internet file-sharing network in March and downloaded several images of suspected child pornography from an account later traced to Bourque's home in Suffield, Fein said in an earlier statement. 

Fein noted that the federal penalties associated with child exploitation crimes are severe and include a lengthy and often mandatory term of imprisonment.  Defendants prosecuted in Connecticut face at least 10 years of court supervision following any period of incarceration. 

Child pornography "is far from a victimless crime," Fein said in the press release. "Those who view and trade these images share a large responsibility for the abuse of the children in these images.  Their abuse didn’t end the day the criminal material was produced.  Their abuse continues with every subsequent distribution, every subsequent possession, every subsequent viewing.”

If convicted, defendants must register as sex offenders, are subject to random searches of their homes and places of work,  subject to computer and Internet-use monitoring, and are not allowed to have any unsupervised contact with children, officials said.

In further efforts to prevent the exploitation of children the U.S. Department of Justice has launched Project Safe Childhood, an initiative that combines law enforcement efforts, community action, and public awareness.

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

According to the press release, the other arrests were:

• Edgardo Seni of Jensen Beach, FL, who has pleaded guilty to child pornography and sexual tourism offenses related to sexual abuse of minor girls in the United States and Nicaragua.
• Douglas Perlitz, who was sentenced to 235 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release, for sexually abusing at least eight minor victims over the course of a decade in Haiti. 
• Jonathan Michael Zahra of Plainville, who has pleaded guilty to one count of manufacture of child pornography. 
• William Oehne of Amelia, VA, formerly of Fairfield County, CT, who has  pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography. 
• Carl G. Koplin, a family practice physician in Vernon, CT, who was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• Michael Martarano of New Haven, who was arrested on a charges of receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• Travis Carlson, of Winsted, who was arrested on charges of possession, receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• Stephen Ulisse, 49, of Rocky Hill, who has  pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography and been sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
• Adam Lee Petrowski of Griswold, who was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of child pornography and receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• Juan Carlos Melendez, a citizen of Peru residing in Stamford, who was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of child pornography and receipt and distribution of child pornography.
• Steven Donald Lewis of Plainville, who was arrested at his dormitory at the University of Connecticut on charges of possession of child pornography and receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• David Wayne Pillsbury of Meriden, who was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography and receipt and distribution of child pornography. 
• James Leonard Key of Mansfield, who was arrested on charges of possession of child pornography. 
• Joseph Calvin Laughner of Naugatuck, who was arrested on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of child pornography.
• Michael Holm of Branford, who has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and awaits sentencing.
• Matthew Wallace of Ledyard and Westerly, RI, who was arrested on a charge of  possession of child pornography. 
• Albert Barnes, also known as “Fritz,” of Danbury, who was arrested on a charge of possession of child pornography. 
• Jeffrey Andre Richards of Burlington, who has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. 
• Peter C. Johns of Wallingford, who was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with possession of child pornography. 
• Ramon Paul Fernandez of Bridgeport, who has pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. 
• Jason Betenksy, of Philadelphia,who  has pleaded guilty to one count of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity.
• Eugene C. Boisvert, 39, of Springfield, MA, who is awaiting trial on a charge of using the Internet to attempt to persuade a minor to engage in sexual activity. 
• Bruce Damico, formerly residing in Hartford, Providence, Rhode Island, and Queens, NY, who has been indicted on charges of child sex trafficking and related offenses. 
• Jarell Sanderson of New Britain, who has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of children and two counts of sex trafficking of children. 
• Theodore Briggs, also known as “PeeJaye,” of Norwalk; Giovanni Vazquez, also known as “Screech,” of Norwalk; and Harry Franklin, also known as “Streets” and “Uncle Stacks,” of the Bronx, NY, who have been indicted on chrages involving an interstate prostitution conspiracy that included the sex trafficking of two minor victims.
• George Patrick Perkert, previously of Bridgeport and Andalucia, Alabama, who was arrested on a charge of violating the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act .