Contact: Craig M. Wolff
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 780-3257
Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Denver Carolissen, 42, of Kuilsrivier, South Africa, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to sexually exploiting a minor and transporting child pornography. He was indicted on November 4, 2014.
According to court records, in 2010, Carolissen, who was in South Africa, took several sexually explicit photographs of a minor girl. In September 2014, Carolissen sent the photographs and other child pornography images to undercover federal agents in Maine investigating the online exchange of child pornography. After he was indicted, the U.S. Department of Justice asked South African authorities to arrest him and extradite him to the United States. On November 25, 2014, South African law enforcement officers arrested the defendant at his residence. Following his arrest, he admitted that he had engaged in sexual activity with the minor girl, taken photos and video footage of the activity and sent images to other individuals using the internet.
He faces between 15 and 30 years in prison for sexually exploiting a minor and between five and 20 years in prison for transporting child pornography. He also faces a fine of up to $250,000 and up to life on supervised release for each offense. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit of the South African Police Service.