A Veazie resident, Austin Cocchiaro, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bangor to two counts of enticing a minor and one count of possessing child pornography.
Court records indicate that Cocchiaro, 24, used his cell phone in both 2022 and 2024 to induce a minor to participate in the production of child pornography. He also offered payment for images through an online payment application. On November 14, 2024, the FBI executed a search warrant at his home in Veazie and found additional child pornography on two cell phones owned by Cocchiaro.
Cocchiaro faces a prison sentence ranging from 10 years to life, a fine up to $250,000, and up to lifetime supervised release. Sentencing will occur after completion of a presentence investigative report by the U.S. Probation Office. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge who will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
The case was investigated by the FBI.
According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), there were 36 million reports related to child sexual abuse materials in 2023. The NCMEC provides resources for reporting incidents involving possession or distribution of such material at https://report.cybertip.org or via phone at 1-800-843-5678.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse through coordination among federal, state, and local agencies. More information about this program is available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.
