Scranton registered sex offender charged with distributing, receiving child pornography

PHILADELPHIA — A Scranton registered sex offender was charged in federal court Wednesday for child pornography after an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

A criminal information was filed charging Marc Accardi, 42, with receiving and distributing child pornography. It alleges he used a cell phone and a computer to download and distribute images of child pornography from March through May 2015.

Accardi was previously arrested in 2008 for child pornography violations in Washington, D.C., and then sentenced to 100 months in federal prison.

His previous conviction stemmed from his interaction with an undercover federal agent posing as a pedophile in a child porn fetish online chat room. Within minutes, he and the undercover agent began having a conversation about children. In response to the agent’s inquiry regarding the age of children that the defendant preferred, Accardi wrote, “baby on up.” Over the course of the chat, Accardi sent multiple still images of female children under 10 years old having sexual contact with adult males. That investigation revealed that he possessed more than 1,000 images of female children under the age of 10 years old having sexual contact with adult males.

If convicted of the new charges, Accardi faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) assisted HSI in the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

Indictments and criminal informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.