Radnor man pleads in child porn case

Dennis Nello Bartolini, 59, of Radnor north of Olney, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal child pornography charges.

He faces up to 50 years in prison.

Bartolini pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography, receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Chief U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy accepted the pleas in Billings. He will sentence Bartolini on Jan. 28.

According to U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer, FBI agents learned that Bartolini had e-mailed child pornography images to people and gave a CD containing child pornography to someone.

He also showed child pornography images on his computer to a nephew.

In a search of Bartolini's home, computer equipment was seized. An analysis of the computer equipment revealed numerous items of child pornography; images of prepubescent children or children under the age of 12; and violent images. Some of the images were also of known and identified minor children.

Bartolini admitted e-mailing child pornography. He also admitted that he had downloaded child pornography from the Internet and then saved and possessed those images for approximately 1 1/2 years. He also admitted inappropriate sexual contact with underage family members, for which he was prosecuted in state court.

Bartolini faces possible penalties of a mandatory five to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release for distribution of child pornography. For receipt of child pornography, he faces possible penalties of a mandatory five to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release. For possession of child pornography, he faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

Mercer said he and his office take child pornography very seriously. A study by the Federal Bureau of Prisons showed that most people convicted of possession child pornography have also admitted to hands-on offenses against children.

"In order to fuel the illicit market, you have to have children victimized to meet the demands," Mercer said.

Child pornography cases have increased with access to the Internet, Mercer said.

"We have a lot more cases today than we did when I became an assistant [U.S. attorney] in 1994," he said.

Agencies committed to prosecuting cases include the FBI, the immigration and customs enforcement agency, the U.S. Postal inspector for Montana, local and state law enforcement, and forensic labs that review computer content.