Man Faces Over 2,000 Child Porn Charges
By Bill Vidonic, Times Staff
Originally published in The Beaver County Times, March 1, 2002
A Midland businessman is expected to surrender to state police this morning to face more than 2,000 criminal charges related to child pornography and sexual assault.
State police and Beaver County detectives charge that William P. Monac III, 36, of 949 Ohio Ave. took pornographic pictures and videos of an underage female and downloaded from the Internet hundreds of pornographic photos of children ranging in age from infancy to just beyond puberty.
Charges filed Thursday against Monac by state Trooper Rocco DeMaiolo and county Detective Kim Clements are: 1,128 counts of sexual abuse of children; 1,113 counts of criminal use of a communication facility; 15 counts each of sexual abuse, unlawful contact or communication with a minor, and sexual exploitation of children; one count each of aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault; four counts of corruption of minors; and two counts of furnishing alcohol to minors.
No one answered repeated phone calls to Monac's home on Thursday.
According to the arrest report:
A 13-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister began working in Monac's now-closed pizza shop, Pelino's Pizza, in 1997. Police say Monac supplied alcohol to minors who came into the shop on a regular basis.
In the summer of 1998, Monac sexually assaulted the younger girl when she was drunk. The Times is not identifying either girl because of the nature of the charges.
In June 1999, the then-15-year-old girl asked Monac to lend her $250. He agreed, saying she could pay him back by posing nude for him, which she did the following month at his home. Monac is accused of taking as many as 240 photos, which he told the girl he would not share with anyone.
Monac posted at least six of the photos online and said that if people wanted more, they could e-mail him or contact him through an adult pornography Web site he and his girlfriend, Diane Sauers, ran with another business partner, Scott Broderick of Chicago. Neither Sauers nor Broderick has been charged with any crime, and neither could be reached for comment.
A Chicago man whom authorities did not name contacted the girl about the photos. She then confronted Monac, who apologized and said he would remove the pictures from the Internet.
DeMaiolo said there is no evidence of child porn on the Web site, and Monac apparently was careful to make sure the models were of legal age.
The older girl became Monac's "girlfriend on the side" when she was 17, according to the report, and posed for photos on the adult site after she turned 18. The relationship ended in the fall of 2000.
Pictures of the sisters were taken at Monac's home and the former pizza shop at 535 Midland Ave., which he used as a photo studio.
Last June, the younger girl came forward and provided information to authorities. She turned over photographs, videotapes and computer discs, police said.
When authorities searched various locations, including Monac's home and photo studio, they found packages of pornographic photos, a list of child pornography Web sites and a computer disc containing 962 child pornography photos. Other child pornography photos were found on Monac's computer hard drive.
