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Pleasantville resident John Passaretti was sentenced this week to a term of between two and six years in prison after pleading guilty to a dozen charges tied to a 2019 sexual abuse incident in Port Chester.
Specifically, Passaretti, 52, who has been detained at the Westchester County Jail since his arrest in November 2019, pleaded guilty last year to:
- Two counts of use of a child in a sexual performance;
- Two counts of promoting an obscene performance by a child;
- Two counts of promoting a sexual performance by a child;
- Two counts of possessing an obscene performance by a child;
- Two counts of possessing a sexual performance by a child;
- Sexual abuse;
- Endangering the welfare of a child.
Upon his release, Passaretti will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Passaretti admitted to taking sexually explicit photos of a young child, the daughter of a friend, at their family home.
Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah said that Passaretti used his familiarity with the family to create a scenario in which he was alone for several moments with the child he abused two years ago.
Video of the incident was captured by a motion-triggered security camera, sometimes referred to as a “nanny cam.”
At Passaretti’s sentencing, both parents of the abused child spoke about the impact the incident had on their family.
“My children were trusting and friendly, fearless to explore but now, instead I witness fear upon my children’s faces every time the (door)bell rings,” the victim’s mother said.
The victim’s father spoke of his anxiety about the many impacts of the trauma of the abuse on his daughter.
“Imagine how this must feel when something of this magnitude happens in your own home while you are there,” he said.
“This was a terrible crime that traumatized a young child and had a devastating impact on the entire family,” Rocah said. “Crimes against children are every parent’s nightmare and this case is a perfect example of how perpetrators of child sex abuse often manipulate relationships of trust.”
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