Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MARK ROMAN, 54, of East Windsor, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty today in Hartford federal court to production and possession of child pornography.
According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement began investigating Roman after Yahoo! reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) that Roman’s email account was transmitting images of child sexual abuse. Investigators determined that Roman’s email account also contained voyeuristic images and videos of naked children that appeared to be homemade.
On November 2, 2021, the Connecticut State Police and East Windsor Police Department executed a state search warrant at Roman’s residence and seized Roman’s iPhone, laptop and computer storage devices. Analysis of the seized revealed more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography, including images and videos of Roman sexually abusing a girl who was between the ages of six and eight. The seized images also included numerous voyeuristic videos that Roman secretly took of the minor victim, another minor female who was between the ages of two and four, and adult victims.
Roman pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography, an offense that carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, and one count of possession of child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on April 5.
Roman has been detained since his arrest on November 29, 2021.
This matter has been investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Connecticut State Police, with the assistance of the East Windsor Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy V. Gifford.
U.S. Attorney Avery thanked the Hartford State’s Attorney’s Office for its cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of this case.
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.