Font ResizeBRATTLEBORO -- A 59-year-old Brattleboro man was arrested on Aug. 7 and charged with the distribution of child pornography.
According to court documents, Samuel Sergi downloaded and distributed child pornography using file-sharing software.
Special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigations, conducting on several different occasions undercover peer-to-peer operations, downloaded videos of child pornography from a computer located in Sergi's home on Lawton Drive, according to court documents.
At least two of the videos found on his computer during a search on Aug. 7 depicted torturous acts on prepubescent children, stated the documents.
Christina Nolan, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, said Sergi was released on conditions, which include he submit to home detention and radio frequency monitoring, refrain from unsupervised contact with children and submit to monitoring of his computer.
"Samuel Sergi is the only individual charged, and there is currently no evidence implicating others in the home," said Nolan.
During the search of his home, Sergi admitted to investigators that he had been downloading child pornography for about five or six years, according to court documents.
"He stated he knew that it was illegal to view child pornography, and that detection by law enforcement was one of his worst fears," stated the documents.
Prior to a federal judge releasing Sergi with conditions,
In the motion for detention, the U.S. Attorney's Office stated people such as Sergi create a world-wide demand for child pornography.
"Sergi and his ilk thus share responsibility for the child abuse captured in the images he seeks out and saves," stated the motion. "Indeed, given Sergi's appetite for depictions of extremely violent sexual abuse of children, he bears responsibility for the production of some of the most horrific forms of child pornography."
In addition, stated the motion, child pornography not only exploits and harms children when it is made, but also when it is viewed.
"Child sexual abuse is memorialized in images and videos, such as those possessed by Sergi ... As the children grow up, they know that images of their sexual abuse have been created and disseminated (and they) live in constant torment at the thought of people like Sergi garnering sexual pleasure from the images ... They dread the prospect of meeting someone who has seen the images. ... Sergi, as a prolific viewer and distributor of child sexual abuse files, is responsible for mentally and emotionally harming every child depicted in his collection."
Sergi should also be held without bail because "there is a danger he will act on his sexual proclivities with a young girl in Vermont," stated the motion.
The investigation was led by the FBI with assistance from the Brattleboro Police Department.
In a press release announcing Sergi's arrest, the U.S. Attorney's Office stated the complaint against Sergi is an accusation only and he is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.
If convicted, Sergi could be sentenced to five to 20 years in prison and be fined up to $250,000.
In 1987, Sergi was convicted in Vermont for cultivation and possession of marijuana and sentenced to six to 12 months, all suspended.
According to court documents, he was also arrested in New Jersey for possession of cocaine. The U.S. Attorney's Office is in the process of determining whether that arrest resulted in a conviction.
According to manta.com, Sergi is the owner of Sergi Trucking in Brattleboro.
Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com, or at 802-254-2311, ext. 160. Follow Bob on Twitter @shocked60.
