Ridgefield Man Pleads Guilty to Child Exploitation Offense

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NICHOLAS SKIRKANICH, 44, of Ridgefield, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford to a charge related to possessing and accessing images and videos depicting child sex abuse material.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in October 2022, an online service provider submitted a CyberTip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) indicating that a TikTok video containing child sex abuse imagery was sent from Skirkanich’s email account to another email account.  Subsequent investigation revealed that Skirkanich possessed and accessed additional material containing child sex abuse imagery between approximately August 2021 and December 2022.

Skirkanich was arrested on December 15, 2022.

Skirkanich pleaded guilty to accessing with intent to view and possessing child pornography, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  Judge Oliver scheduled sentencing for May 15.  Skirkanich is released on a $150,000 bond pending sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of the Ridgefield Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shan Patel, with the assistance of the Danbury State’s Attorney’s Office.

This prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which is aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

To report cases of child exploitation, please visit www.cybertipline.com.