MANALAPAN — A township man has been arrested and charged with making child pornography by contacting young boys through Skype while pretending to be a girl.

Angelo Curato, 26, is charged with producing visual depictions of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.

When police searched Curato's laptop they found images of child pornography as well as "hundreds of sexually explicit chat messages between the Curato Skype accounts and individuals who appear to be minor males," the complaint against him says.

The man, who Carpenito said used to work at a family amusement center in Freehold, talked to one boy from New Jersey over the course of six months last year. During their chats, Curato asked the boy several times to get on "cam" to engage in sexual activities, Carpenito said.

When investigators spoke to the boy in April he told them he had met Curato through an online chat app, and that he had engaged in the explicit conduct with the man, but believed Curato was a 16- or 17-year-old girl. The boy also said he did not know Curato was recording their chats.

If convicted Curato faces 15 to 30 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000.

Carpenito asked anyone with information about the case or other possible victims to call 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

 

More From Beach Radio