Hartsville Man To Serve 15-Years For Child Exploitation

A federal judge has sentenced a Hartsville man to 15-years in prison for child exploitation crimes.

41-year-old Curt Cannamela pleaded guilty earlier this year to enticement of a minor, receipt of child pornography, and distribution of child pornography.

According the U.S. Attorneys Office in Nashville, Homeland Security Investigators began investigating Cannamela in 2017 after discovering email communications between Cannamela and what appeared to be an underage female.

Authorities said Cannamela sent images depicting child pornography after agents began posing as a 14-year-old female.

HSI agents executed a federal search warrant at Cannamela’s home in Hartsville after he purchased an airline ticket for the 14-year-old female to fly from Laredo, Texas to Nashville.

The search warrant yielded laptops and other electronic media, which contained evidence of other victims of child pornography and child predators.