United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana
08/29/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/29/2024 14:14
Harahan Man Sentenced to 200 Months in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children
Press Release
Harahan Man Sentenced to 200 Months in Prison for Sexual Exploitation of Children
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Louisiana
<_w3a_sdt contentlocked="t" docpart="82566BDF9DE34B769C56E15DD513D23A" id="483134106" text="t">NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that DOMINICK ANTHONY VALOTTA ("VALOTTA"), age 38, a resident of Harahan, Louisiana, was sentenced by United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey to 200 months in prison after previously pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of children, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2251(a). VALOTTA was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release following imprisonment and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. VALOTTA must register as a sex offender. Judge Zainey scheduled a restitution hearing in this matter for November 5, 2024.
According to court documents, based on a 2022 complaint by a minor resident in Rhode Island, law enforcement authorities executed search warrants on social media accounts, electronic devices, and a residence in Harahan, Louisiana, belonging to VALOTTA. A review of the items seized revealed that throughout 2022 and early 2023, VALOTTA met at least three (3) minor females on social media applications on which VALOTTA created a false persona. When chatting with the minors, VALOTTA typically engaged in sexually charged correspondence. His pattern included, and culminated in, VALOTTA requesting sexually explicit images, videos and depictions from minors. VALOTTA often offered to take and transmit sexually explicit pictures of himself to the minors to encourage them to do the same for him. VALOTTA also sent messages to the minors seeking to arrange in-person sexual liaisons. VALOTTA's victims included a North Carolina resident born in August 2007 (Victim 1), an Ohio resident born in July 2008 (Victim 2), and a North Carolina resident born in March 2008 (Victim 3).
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, was in charge of the prosecution.
Contact
Shane Jones
Community Outreach Coordinator
U.S Attorney's Office
Eastern District of Louisiana
Updated August 29, 2024
Topic
Project Safe Childhood