PHILADELPHIA — A U.S. District Court judge denied a North Wildwood hotel owner’s appeal of a sex tourism conviction.
Judge Bruce Kauffman, of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, deemed Anthony Bianchi’s 2006 trial was fair and upheld the decision. Bianchi said his conviction wasn’t fair because his alleged crimes occurred overseas and important defense witnesses were unable to appear.
Bianchi, 46, was charged under the Protect Act, a controversial 2003 law aimed at preventing the exploitation of children. He was found guilty of traveling from Philadelphia to Moldova, a tiny land-locked country in Eastern Europe, and other countries from 2003 through 2005 to have sex with at least a half dozen young boys.
Bianchi was arrested at his home on Jan. 11, 2006 by agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Americans who believe they can sexually abuse children abroad without facing consequences at home are sadly mistaken,” said John Kelleghan, a special agent for ICE, in statement issued by the U.S. Department of Justice following Bianchi’s arrest. “ICE will use all of its resources to bring international sex tourists to justice.”
In an indictment filed in May 2006, Bianchi was charged with one count of conspiracy with an interpreter to engage in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places, five counts of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct, four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places and two counts of using a facility in foreign commerce to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.
This arrest wasn’t Bianchi’s first. He was convicted nearly a decade ago by Russian courts on similar charges and sent to prison, but later expelled from the country.
Bianchi, an inmate in the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, was released into the custody of U.S. Marshals last week for his appeal. He has been incarcerated and awaiting sentencing since his arrest.
According to an ICE release, Bianchi faces 360 years of imprisonment, a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, five years supervised release, a $3 million fine and a $1,200 special assessment.
Bianchi’s family runs the Ivanhoe Apartments and Motel at 21st Street, North Wildwood Police Chief Robert Matteucci told the Herald.
Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com
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