An East Haven, CT man named Gene Crescenzi was arrested in June 2008 after police investigated a report of a person attempting to entice young females with a necklace in a parking lot on Water Street in suburban Guilford, CT.

According to the police incident report, the parent contacted police to report a daughter had recounted disturbing details of an incident she said took place on June 18. The girl, an eighth grader, stated she and her friends had been approached by a man who attempted to entice at least one of them by offering a necklace.

Police continued to investigate the report, culminating with the June 27 arrest of Gene Crescenzi, 32, of East Haven. Crescenzi was charged with enticing a minor and risk of injury to a minor. He was released on $25,000 bond, but police seized several computers, cameras, VHS tapes, and numerous CDs and DVDs from his house.

Crescenzi was then rearrested on December 16, 2008, and charged with attempting to entice a minor via the Internet, as well as third-degree possession of child pornography.

Investigators said they spent weeks gathering information on his attempts to contact a Guilford juvenile via computer, instant messaging and a cell phone in an effort to entice the minor to have sexual relations with him. They also found numerous pornographic images and videos on the computers and files, including several videos of female children in various sexual acts.

A year later, in July 2009, Crescenzi pleaded no contest to three felony charges: risk of injury to a minor, enticing a minor by computer and illegal possession of less than 25 images of child pornography. According to the terms of his plea agreement, he faces eight years in prison, suspended after four years, followed by 10 years of probation and registration as a sex offender.