Man in child porn ring gets 40 years, accused of streaming infant’s abuse
BY NATASHA KORECKI AND LARK TURNER Chicago Sun-Times June 14, 2011 12:02PM
A onetime lawyer of Brian Annoreno called him a “wounded kid” who is “a mess.” | Photo Courtesy ABC7
Updated: August 3, 2011 8:58PM
He was accused of molesting an infant and live-streaming the act on the Internet as part of an on-demand private chat room.
Prosecutors said Brian Annoreno’s case was one of the worst they’ve seen, involving “the most disturbing” child exploitation and that he deserved to be behind bars for 40 years to protect society.
Annoreno’s onetime lawyer though, called him a “wounded kid,” someone who’s “a mess” and more in need of therapy than the 40-year term imposed by U.S. District Judge James Zagel last week.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur said Annoreno, 35, formerly of Bartlett, took part in a large-scale conspiracy involving a private Internet chat room where thousands of illegal images were swapped with people around the world.
The investigation, which culminated in 2006, may have been the first time that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wiretapped an Internet account.
Once arrested in 2006, Annoreno cooperated with authorities, admitting some of his own crimes, as well as providing information about other individuals, MacArthur said.
But after his arrest, he also did something else, according to prosecutors.
From jail, Annoreno asked another inmate to help him get more child pornography. He was unsuccessful, but prosecutors raised the issue at sentencing to show Annoreno’s continued interest in child pornography.
“The sentence was appropriate in order to protect society and to protect the community from Mr. Annoreno,” who had a “deep-seated and longstanding interest in child exploitation,” MacArthur said.
In handing down the sentence, Zagel said he wanted to make sure Annoreno was “incapacitated long enough so he was not a threat,” according to MacArthur.
Annoreno admitted to trading child pornography images with others in a chat room called “Kiddpics & Kiddyvds.” He was one of two dozen people in the United States, Canada, England and elsewhere who were prosecuted after taking part in the chat room. Prosecutors alleged that Annoreno and others transmitted live video of molestations through online instant messenger services. Annoreno faced up to 50 years in prison.
Annoreno’s former attorney, Michael Falconer, has said his onetime client has a low IQ and, once in jail, he was besieged with threats.
“That’s a lot of time for a guy who’s really just — he’s, he’s just a wounded kid. He’s a mess and he did some terrible stuff. ... He needs treatment more than he needs time,” Falconer said. “I hope he gets someplace where he gets good therapy.”
Annoreno’s current attorney, Sam L. Amirante – who also once represented John Wayne Gacy — could not be reached for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Schneider called the probe — announced at the time by then-U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — “ground-breaking.” He said he believed it was the first time Immigration and Customs ever did a wiretap on an Internet account, an unusual technique for any agency in 2006.
“This was certainly a groundbreaking prosecution with respect to the electronic surveillance that was done,” Schneider said. “We tapped the ISP account for the target’s Internet account and were able to intercept the communications in real time and record it.”
The probe was also unusual because of the international cooperation, he said. Immigration and Customs tapped the Internet connection for three days, and although the wiretap did not record live streaming video, investigators did intercept e-mails with transmissions of child porn, Schneider said.
In a statement, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, said “This case involved the most disturbing criminal sexual assault of minors.”
Falconer said the proliferation of child porn, in this case and in others, goes back to one thing:
“There’s something about the Internet that promotes this kind of behavior.”
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