N.J. man participated in child sexual assaults via live stream, prosecutor says – NJ.com

An Essex County man participated in sexual assault of children in videos that were live-streamed to computers in his home, authorities said Wednesday.

Antonio Del Prado, 59, of Millburn, is charged with one count of production of child pornography and two counts of possession of child pornography, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said in a statement.

Del Prado appeared in U.S. District Court via videoconference on Wednesday and was ordered held pending further court hearings, Carpenito said.

Carpenito said investigators learned in October that Del Prado had uploaded 56 images and 18 videos of suspected child sexual abuse to an internet cloud storage system.

“Del Prado had actively participated in the production of child sexual abuse by giving instructions to another individual who was live-streaming a video of themselves sexually assaulting a child,” Carpenito said.

Investigators arrested Del Prado after executing a search warrant at his Millburn home Wednesday morning, Carpenito said.

According to the complaint, a person with the username “tonydelprado” uploaded images and videos of adults and children engaged in sex crimes on children who ranged in age from toddler to about 10 years old.

In one video dated Aug. 5, 2019, a person in a green shirt – later identified as Del Prado – appears in a video chatbox and instructs a woman to sexually assault a child multiple times, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

On Tuesday, federal investigators searched Del Prado’s home and said they found a computer workstation equipped with three monitors and a webcam.

“Notably, the room seen in the background of the (August 2019) screen recording video is virtually identical to the background law enforcement saw” in the home, investigators wrote in the affidavit.

Investigators said they found 10 more videos of child sexual abuse in Del Prado’s home.

Del Prado was charged federally because investigators believe the videos were transmitted via an internet-based application and stored on servers located outside New Jersey, the affidavit states.

Carpenito said if Del Prado is convicted of all charges, he faces up to 55 years in prison and a fine of $500,000.

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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.