$50,000 bail for Revere man arraigned on child pornography charges

BOSTON, March 1, 2023 —A Revere man is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail today after being arraigned on charges that he shared child pornographic material with undercover investigators and agreed to meet with the investigators in a hotel room, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.

Sani Zuntu, 24, was charged in Central BMC with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of distributing obscene matter.  Judge James Stanton set bail at $50,000, plus ordered several conditions including stay away from anyone under 18, stay away from schools, have no employment that involves contact with children, surrender passport and be strapped with a GPS device if released. Zuntu will return to court April 4 for a pre-trial conference.

Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Tochka said that on February 28 Zuntu initiated online contact with a covert unit made up of members from the Boston Police Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking units and the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.  Zuntu initiated the communication by texting “hey, can we talk please.”  During the course of the communication, Zuntu sent videos depicting adults sexually molesting children. 

Later in the communication, Zuntu agreed to meet the covert investigators at a hotel room in Boston.  When Zuntu entered the hotel room the investigators identified themselves and seized numerous technical devices from Zuntu, including an iPhone, an HP laptop and an iPad.  Zuntu was arrested and booked.

“I thank the local and federal investigators for handling this matter so effectively after being contacted by this defendant.  I hope this incident sends a message to anyone else contemplating viewing this type of material: it’s harmful to children and you will be prosecuted,” Hayden said.

James Borghesani, Chief of Communications