NEWARK, N.J. – A Manalapan, New Jersey, man today admitted using online chat applications to entice an adolescent to engage in prohibited sexual activity, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Angelo N. Curato, 30, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti to a superseding information charging him with one count of online enticement of a minor.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
From February 2017 through June 2017, Curato used online chat applications to misrepresent his identity and entice or coerce an adolescent to engage in prohibited sexual activity, knowing that the victim was under the age of 18.
The online enticement charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 29, 2022.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark; and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry O’Connell of the U.S. Attorney’s Office General Crimes Unit.