West Haven Man Arrested On Child Exploitation Offenses: Feds

WEST HAVEN, CT — Carlos Inesti, 29, of West Haven, was arrested Thursday on a federal complaint charging him with child exploitation offenses, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut David X. Sullivan and P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the FBI, announced in a news release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in April 2025, the FBI arrested a person in Utah on accusations of possession of child pornography.

“Analysis of a cell phone seized during the investigation revealed videos involving an adult male, subsequently determined to be Inesti, engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a toddler-aged girl,” officials wrote in a news release. “The investigation revealed that Inesti had recorded the videos and shared them through the Telegram application.”

Inesti appeared Thursday in federal court in New Haven and was released on a $100,000 bond into home detention with location monitoring, according to officials.

Officials said he is prohibited from accessing the internet and having any contact with minors.

The complaint charges Inesti with sexual exploitation of children, which carries a mandatory minimum term of 15 years in prison and a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 year, and with distribution of child pornography, which carries a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, according to officials.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s New Haven and Salt Lake City Field Offices, with the assistance of the West Haven Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel M. Krull.

The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.