Man Living Near Stamford Elementary School Faces Child Porn Charges

Stamford police announced Thursday the arrest of a 69-year-old city man who lived next door to a Stamford elementary school on child pornography charges. 

According to Lt. Diedrich Hohn, the SPD Youth Bureau began an investigation in Oct. 2012 into the online activities of Roland Roqueta, of 400 Stillwater Ave., after receiving information about alleged downloading of child pornography there.

Investigators recently determined that there were allegedly hundreds of downloads of child pornography being downloaded at this address, Hohn said. While initially investigating the incident, police realized the home was in close proximity to Westover School.

"The thing about these cases is, the hard part can be tracking the IP address to a specific location," Hohn said. "Once we got [the address] and realized it was right next to a school, we were able to fast track the investigation."

The proximity to the elemtary school kicked the investigation into high gear. The States Attorney's Office was notified and a search warrant quickly obtained based on collected evidence, which was executed Thursday morning, Hohn said.

Police said at this point in the investigation, they do not believe Roqueta ever came into contact with students from Westover School. There was no reason to believe Roqueta was ever stalking or attempting to lure any of the children form the school, according to Hohn.

"The back entrance of the apartment offered an unobstructed view of the front of the elementary school," Hohn said. "Numerous computers were seized, hundreds and thousands of images on computer discs and jump drives. Among the items seized were also [two pairs] of binoculars."

Police said Roqueta is being cooperative. Roqueta was not on any sexual registry anywhere in Connecticut or the U.S., authorities said.

Roqueta was charged with first-degree possession of child pornography, importing child pornography and promoting a minor in an obscene performance. His bond was set at $150,000. The investigation is ongoing.

Hohn acknowledge Sgt. Joseph Kennedy, Ofc. Mark Sinise, and Ofc. Louis Pasquino for their diligent work on this sensitive investigation.