Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KEVIN CURLEY, 41, formerly of Morris, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to a child exploitation offense.
According to court documents and statements made in court, “Tor,” which is an acronym for “The Onion Router,” is a worldwide network of internet-connected computers that is designed to conceal the true IP addresses of the computers on the network and the identities of the network’s users. In 2020, HSI began investigating Curley for his involvement in an online community of individuals who sent and received child pornography images and videos via a hidden service website that operated on the Tor network. On August 5, 2020, investigators conducted a court-authorized search of Curley’s former residence in Morris and seized Curley’s desktop computer. Analysis of the seized computer revealed hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children.
Curley was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on October 8, 2020.
Curley pleaded guilty to one count of receipt of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for August 30.
Curley is released on a $150,000 bond and residing in Naugatuck while awaiting sentencing.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Clark through 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.