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DERBY – A 43-year-old Derby man pleaded no contest on July 23 in a case where he is accused of downloading hundreds of images and videos of child pornography to his computer.
Telly Zachariadis is set to receive a year in prison following the plea, to be followed by ten years of probation.
Zachariadis’ sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Superior Court in Milford.
Prosecutors alleged that Zachariadis downloaded photos and videos of child pornography. He was arrested in 2022 following a state police investigation where investigators tracked the offending downloads back to his house.
Zachariadis entered a nolo contendere plea – a plea under which the defendant accepts conviction but does not admit guilt.
In 2021, state police tracked downloads of child porn over the file-sharing network BitTorrent. One IP address was traced back to an address in Derby where Zachariadis was living, according to an arrest warrant.
Upon arrival, Connecticut State Police Trooper David Aresco met with Zachariadis and questioned him as to whether he had ever downloaded child pornography. Throughout the interview, Zachariadis said that he may have downloaded some by accident, but later allegedly admitted that he would look up the files during drinking binges.
“When I’m drunk, I’ve looked up some messed-up stuff, I’m not going to lie,” the warrant quotes Zachariadis as telling the officer.
Officers searched Zachariadis’ laptop and an external hard drive, where they found around 350 photos and videos they suspected of being child pornography. The files depicted children “who appeared to be between approximately one year of age to fourteen years of age engaged in sexually prohibited activity,” according to the warrant.
Zachariadis was ultimately charged with one count of possession of child pornography in the third degree, and one count of promoting a minor in an obscene performance.
Edward Gavin, the lawyer representing Zachariadis, said that his client has been receiving treatment for his alcohol abuse.
“(Zachariadis) has been in intensive treatment with the CATSO (Connecticut Association for the Treatment of Sexual Offenders) providers, and he has been exceptional,” Gavin told the court. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, he’s the most complying client that I’ve had.”
Judge Kevin S. Russo, who presided over the court, ordered a presentence investigation report – a standard procedure – but said he expects to hand down the sentence negotiated in the plea deal.
