A Kent man who was arrested Thursday morning on federal charges of downloading and sharing child pornography is a registered sex offender.
Steven Ciccone, 65, was convicted in 2014 on felony charges of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, according to Portage County Common Pleas Court records. Ciccone was sentenced to five years of probation — including one year under intensive supervision. He also was labeled a Tier II sex offender, meaning he was ordered to register his home and work addresses with his local sheriff’s office every six months for 25 years.
As a condition of probation, Ciccone was barred from using the Internet.
A judge warned him in court records that he’d face up to five years in prison if he violated his probation. A probation violation hearing has not been scheduled, according to court records.
Ciccone was arrested by FBI agents who had obtained a warrant.
According to a complaint filed in federal court, Ciccone is accused in this case of downloading almost 700 files of explicit child pornography. Most of the files that were downloaded also had sexually explicit names and required searches to begin downloading. Many of the images depicted grown men raping children as young as infants, according to the complaint.
Agents said the files were downloaded to Ciccone’s computer using a peer-to-peer sharing program, which allows users to connect to other users’ computers to copy files in specially designated folders. Once files are downloaded, many of the programs automatically start sharing them, too, unless a user manually blocks the sharing process.
Peer-to-peer sharing programs are commonly used to download music, movies and television shows illegally.
According to the complaint, Ciccone denied he downloaded or viewed any child pornography since his last arrest in 2012. He told an agent he was allowed by the court to begin using the Internet again after a year of probation, but his probation officer told the agent Ciccone was still barred from Internet use.
The FBI began investigating Ciccone after an undercover Child Exploitation Task Force agent in Texas registered the downloads in June 2015. They tracked the person who downloaded the images to Ciccone’s home address, according to the complaint.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.
