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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. A Florida man who worked at a Norwalk travel agency was sentenced Tuesday to 85 years in prison for production of child pornography and sexual tourism offenses related to his sexual abuse of minor girls in Nicaragua and the United States, including Connecticut, federal officials say.
Edgardo Sensi, 55, last residing in Jensen Beach, Fla., worked at a Norwalk travel agency according to The Associated Press. Sensi pleaded guilty in July 2010 to all four counts of a superseding indictment charging him with conspiracy to produce child pornography, production of child pornography, engaging in illicit sexual conduct outside of the United States, and production of child pornography outside of the United States, said David B. Fein, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, and Bruce M. Foucart, special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations office in Boston.
"This investigation revealed a more than 25-year history of sexual abuse of minor victims by this defendant," Fein said in a statement. "The defendant preyed on vulnerable women and manipulated them so they would and did surrender their young daughters to him. The abuse and the video-recordings of the crimes are horrendous and cruel. Through the excellent investigative work by Homeland Security Investigations and the Martin County Sheriff's Office, society is protected from a dangerous and serial child predator."
Fein said that while Sensi was a resident of Connecticut, between 2001 and 2004, he conspired with a woman to coerce an 8-year-old girl to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Sensi engaged in a lengthy process that involved trickery and desensitizing the victim to allow the sexual abuse, encouraged the victim to be filmed while Sensi and the woman engaged her in sexually explicit conduct and enticed the victim to engage in sadomasochistic sex acts.
In January 2004, in a remote area Nicaragua, Sensi seduced a 19-year-old woman, who worked as a maid, by promising to marry her and provide her with gifts and money, Fein said. Through this coercion, Sensi got access to the woman's 4-year-old daughter, whom he sexually abused. Sensi also videotaped sex sessions that included both the woman and her daughter.
Senior U.S. District Judge Warren W. Eginton heard testimony from the foster parents of the girl who Sensi abused in Connecticut when she was 8, and from two victims who were abused when Sensi lived elsewhere. Eginton imposed the statutory maximum term of imprisonment on each count of conviction.
Sensi has been incarcerated since Sept. 10, 2008, when he was arrested by the Martin County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office on state of Florida possession of child pornography charges. Fein said there is no evidence the videotapes that Sensi produced have been possessed by anyone other than Sensi.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Krishna R. Patel and Fein.
The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice's Project Safe Childhood Initiative, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. 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 identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
To report cases of child exploitation, visit www.cybertipline.com.
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