Carmel – Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that JOHN ASMODEO, 34, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for engaging in, and videotaping, sexual activity with a minor in the fall of 2003.  ASMODEO pled guilty on October 23, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti, who also imposed today’s sentence.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “This case underlines the urgent need for law enforcement to continue its efforts to protect children from those who prey on them. We will continue to use every tool available to law enforcement to prosecute and punish those who sexually exploit children.”

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in related court proceedings:

In the fall of 2003, when ASMODEO was 20, he engaged in sexual intercourse with a then 12 year-old girl (“Victim-1”) and he used a camera to record the sexual activity.  He took photographs of Victim-1 as well as videos of the sexual intercourse.  The camera used to create the video files was a Fujifilm Finepix 3800, a camera manufactured in Japan.

Later, ASMODEO copied the video files of Victim-1 onto a compact disk he labeled “Girls.”  He gave that “Girls” disk to a third party in 2005.  In 2016, that third party provided the “Girls” disk to law enforcement.

In or about April 2014, ASMODEO’S residence in Putnam County came to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations because it appeared that an Internet Protocol address connected to that residence was making child pornography available via a peer-to-peer file sharing network.  A search warrant was executed, resulting in the seizure of numerous computers.  The forensic examination of these items revealed thousands of sexually explicit images of prepubescent children. The examination also revealed that, on various dates in 2013, ASMODEO used a hidden camera to videotape a 10-year-old girl undressing in his bathroom.

In announcing the sentence, Judge Briccetti underscored that the defendant’s conduct was “appalling” and “extraordinarily harmful to the victim.”

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In addition to the prison term, ASMODEO, 34, of Carmel, New York, was sentenced to 10 years of supervised release.

Mr. Berman praised the efforts of Homeland Security Investigations, the Carmel Police Department, and the Putnam County District Attorney’s Office in connection with this investigation.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Marcia S. Cohen and Lauren Schorr are in charge of the prosecution.