Child-porn suspect now charged with child rape
MIDDLETOWN >> A 56-yearold township man was charged Friday with rape of a child and related childsex offenses - three months after he was arrested by Delaware County authorities on multiple unrelated child-pornography and related child-sex offenses.
Michael Valenti, a former county prison guard who resides in the 100 block of Glen Riddle Road, is currently awaiting trial on separate charges of manufacturing and attempting to manufacture child pornography following his December 2016 arrest, according to authorities and online court records.
Valenti remains jailed at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility in lieu of bail, which in both cases totals $550,000, according to online court records.
The latest case, according to the probable cause affidavit written by Detective Edmond Pisani Jr. of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division and the Pennsylvania Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, involves a 5-year-old girl who told her mother that she played a “secret” game with the defendant.
Pisani received information on March 29, 2017, from a Pennsylvania State Police Trooper regarding a Delaware County Children and Youth Services report involving the accusations.
According to the report, “The child victim told her mother that she cannot tell anyone about the secret game.” The mother told authorities that her daughter was in Valenti’s company prior to his arrest on Dec. 29, 2016, on charges related to the sexual abuse of children.
The affidavit does not indicate when the alleged offenses involving the 5-yearold girl occurred, only that the victim’s mother noticed a difference in her daughter’s behavior about a year ago. The child stopped liking school and became aggressive toward other children, the mother told authorities she when was interviewed in March of this year.
When detectives interviewed the child on March 30, the young girl reiterated details regarding the “secret” game, and also provided drawings about the game, the affidavit states. The pictures included a version of male genitalia. The child also said Valenti used his tongue to touch her, according to allegations.
According to online court records, Valenti’s bail in the latest case was set at $500,000 cash, and his preliminary hearing is listed for April 11 before Magisterial District Judge Walter “Sonny” Strohl. In addition to rape of a child, charges filed Friday include involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, unlawful contact with a minor involving sexual offenses, corruption of a minor, indecent assault of a person less than 13 years of age and indecent exposure. Meanwhile, Valenti has pre-trial conference a scheduled Monday, April 3, on charges in the December arrest. In that case, he’s charged with multiple counts of attempting to photograph, film or depict a sex act involving a child on a computer, invasion of privacy, possession of child pornography and criminal use of a communication facility. His bail, in that case, was set at 10 percent of $500,000.
It was not immediately known if Valenti retained an attorney on the latest offenses. His attorney for the initial case, a Delaware County assistant public defender, could not be reached for comment after business hours Friday.