HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against a Monroe County man who possessed and disseminated child sexual abuse material — with agents finding at least 1,000 files depicting children.
Marc Villanti, 54, is charged with more than 1,000 felonies, following a search warrant served by Office of Attorney General agents at Villanti’s Tobyhanna home.
Villanti was arraigned and bail was set at $100,000 cash. If he posts bail, he is prohibited from accessing the internet and is to have no contact with children. He also was required to surrender his passport.
Agents determined Villanti had at least 1,000 files of child sexual abuse material on electronic devices, and that he had shared at least 70 files discovered during the investigation.
Agents also found a home video tape of Villanti following teenage girls as they got into vehicles.
”The volume of obscene materials found in this case are disturbing and cause great alarm as this is clearly someone with a fixation on very young children, as many of the files depicted preschool-aged kids,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Our Child Predator Section has covered the entire Commonwealth with proactive investigations that remove predators from the internet and communities.”
The Office of Attorney General received a tip and determined Villanti was using a peer-to-peer platform to share and obtain the material.
The case will be prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Mary Phillips. Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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