Kid porn suspect pleads guilty

WILKES-BARRE – A Wyoming man pleaded guilty to 518 child pornography charges on Thursday.

Michael P. Albanesi, 44, of West 8th Street, entered the plea to the charges before Luzerne County Court Judge Hugh Mundy.

Mundy said Albanesi will undergo an evaluation by the state Sexual Offenders Assessment Board to determine if he is a sexually violent predator and will have to register his address under Megan’s Law requirements.

Albanesi pleaded guilty to 507 charges of child pornography and 11 charges of distributing photos or films depicting child pornography. A single count of criminal use of a communications facility was withdrawn by prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Jill Matthews Lada.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges at an arraignment in March, and currently faces a maximum of seven years in prison on each count, as well as a $15,000 fine for each count.

Albanesi, who is represented by attorney John Sobota, was ordered to have no contact with children or the Internet.

According to court records, a detective with the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Office, Justin Leri, who is a member of the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, searched for child pornography images and movies being traded on the Internet on Oct. 29, 2009.

Leri viewed an Internet Provider address that was sharing 127 files containing images of children engaging in sexual acts.

Leri obtained a grand jury subpoena to find out whose IP address the files were coming from, and learned that it was the residence of Kokana Jones.

Investigators obtained a search warrant and went to the West 8th Street home where Jones and Albanesi were.

Police spoke with Albanesi, who said he utilizes software to download music, adult and child pornography from the Internet.

Albanesi said he has been downloading child pornography for seven to 10 years, and that he would get sexually aroused watching the videos or looking at still images of child porn.

Albanesi told police he had been sexually assaulted as a child, and that he began downloading child pornography about the time he turned 15 years old after an adult male introduced pictures on the computer to him.

Jones told police she knew Albanesi and that he would give copies of photos and videos to his friend Robert Dale, of Old Forge, and that she asked him to stop.