John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in New Haven has returned an indictment charging YEHUDI MANZANO, 33, of Waterbury, with production and transportation of child pornography.

As alleged in the indictment, on or about August 21, 2016, MANZANO sexually assaulted a 15-year-old female victim in Connecticut, video recorded the assault with his cell phone, and uploaded the video to his Google account.

The indictment was returned on May 3, 2018, and was unsealed yesterday when MANZANO surrendered to authorities.  MANZANO appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge William I. Garfinkel in Bridgeport yesterday afternoon and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.  He was released on a $300,000 bond and electronic GPS monitoring.

On November 10, 2016, MANZANO was arrested on related state charges.

The charge of production of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years, and the charge of transportation of child pornography carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Waterbury Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.