Robinson man pleads guilty in child porn case

A Robinson man waived indictment by grand jury on Tuesday and pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in connection with a large-scale investigation into a darknet website called “Welcomd 2 Video” that offered child sex videos for sale using bitcoin.

Anthony Bellisario, 57, was identified as a user of the site and downloaded 1,673 child porn files and uploaded six files to the site, according to his plea. In return, he received credits for additional videos.

A search of his house on March 27, 2018, turned up two laptops on which law officers found thousands of other images and videos.

Mr. Bellisario admitted he used a virtual private network to mask his identity because he

knew what he was doing was illegal, according to the plea.

In an affidavit, law officers said he admitted to viewing child porn when he is under the influence of cocaine. Police and agents said they found marijuana, as well as a small bag of powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.

Agents said he also had a shotgun he isn’t allowed to have because of an outstanding warrant dating to 1988 from the sheriff’s office in Norwalk, Calif.

Mr. Bellisario was charged in March with the child porn counts, but the U.S. attorney’s office did not charge him with gun or drug offenses.

U.S. District Judge Robert Colville will sentence Mr. Bellisario on Jan.

5. He faces at least five years in prison and up to 20.