Grand Jury Indicts Newtown Man on Sex Abuse

A grand jury has indicted a Newtown man on federal charges of production of child pornography, possession of child pornography and forfeiture, which is in addition to a string of sexual abuse charges he already faces in Connecticut Superior Court.

The indictment was announced Tuesday. David Csanadi, 35, of Aunt Park Lane stands accused of sexually abusing three girls, videotaping the abuse using 8 mm film and maintaining the tapes at his home. One alleged victim was 18 months old, a second was about 4-years-old and the third, whom officials said had not yet been identified, was described as a pre-pubescent girl at the time of the abuse.

The case was first uncovered after a Monroe detective investigating child pornography on the Internet in October 2010 stumbled upon a network addressed that traced back to Csanadi, officials said. The information was passed to Newtown police, which began investigating Csanadi, including serving a search warrant at his Aunt Park Lane home where they found a multitude of videotapes, including some allegedly showing the sexual abuse.

Csanadi, who had been working as a landscaper in Southbury, was first taken into custody by in April of this year, arraigned in Connecticut Superior Court and remained incarcerated on pending charges. This federal indictment woud be in addition to those state charges, officials said.

The federal indictment says Csanadi gained access to the girls who were children of friends and then sexually abused them when he was alone with them, filming images of the abuse on 8mm video tapes. The first victim – the infant – was abused and filmed from 2007 to 2008 while the second victim – the 4-year-old – was abused in the summer of 2009 when Csanadi traveled to Rhode Island, according to the indictment. The third victim who also appeared on film was abused on or about 2006, according to the indictment, which also lodges charges of possession of child pornography.

In , Csanadi already faces three counts of first-degree sexual assault, three counts of illicit sexual contact with a child, three charges of risk of injury to a child and one charge of illegal possession of third-degree child pornography in Connecticut Superior Court. He was by Newtown police and held on $1 million bond.

Federal officials said that Csanadi is expected to be arraigned in U.S. District Court. If convicted on the federal charges, he would face a minimum term of 15 years in prison and maximum of 30 years on each count of production of child pornography. Possession of child pornography carries a maximum term of 10 years in prison.

Officials said that anyone who has information that may be helpful to the investigation can call the Connecticut Computer Crimes Task Force at 203-777-6311.

Editor's note: Csanadi is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 20 in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport although his case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven.

Related Topics: David Csanadi, Newtown sexual abuse case, and Sexual abuse of infants