Manalapan Man Sentenced To 10 Years For Online Enticement Of Minor

NEWARK, NJ – A Manalapan resident was sentenced Tuesday to 120 months - 10 years - in prison after he pleaded guilty in July for using online chat apps to entice an adolescent for sex, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

The office said Thursday that Angelo N. Curato, 30, had pleaded guilty by videoconference on July 18 before U.S. District Judge Brian Martinotti in Newark.

He had pleaded guilty to what the office referred to as "superseding information," charging him with one count of online enticement of a minor for prohibited sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney's office said. The complaint said the defendant waived, in open court, prosecution by indictment.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, from February 2017 through June 2017 Curato used online chat applications to "misrepresent his identity and entice or coerce an adolescent to engage in prohibited sexual activity, knowing that the victim was under the age of 18," the office said in July in a news release.

The online enticement charge carried a maximum penalty of life in prison, a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, and a $250,000 fine. No information regarding a fine was released by the U.S. Attorney's office on Thursday.

Upon conviction, the complaint gave notice that the U.S. Attorney will seek forfeiture of "any property, real or personal, that was used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the commission of the offense." The complaint cited various computer and telephone items.

Sellinger said special agents of Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark; and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of then-Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey, conducted the investigation.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry O’Connell. Defense counsel was Rahul Sharma, assistant federal public defender, Newark, the U.S. Attorney's office said in July.