WILMINGTON — A 23-year-old man faces up to two decades in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
READ MORE: Former YMCA worker, UNCW student indicted on more child sex crime charges
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge R. Kent Harrell sentenced Elijah Donato to 12 to 24.5 years of active prison time in the NC Division of Adult Correction. Upon release, Donato will be required to register as a sex offender for 30 years.
Donato was arrested in September 2023 on two counts of sexual exploitation and two counts of indecent liberties with a minor. But a grand jury indictment brought forth more charges and in the end Donato faced five counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and five counts of indecent liberties with a child.
The Carolina Beach Police Department investigated the case after a family came forward accusing Donato of taking photographs of their children’s genitals while babysitting. The images were captured on the family’s Nest security cameras, recovered by CBPD.
According to a release from the DA’s office: “A digital forensic analysis of the defendant’s phone found photographs consistent with these acts in a hidden folder on his phone titled ‘my eyes only.'”
The search warrant application noted the children told their parents Donato posted “sus” images to Snapchat, prompting a check-in of the home footage captured by Nest. It showed Donato “engaged in inappropriate physical activity with both children but predominantly the oldest son.”
The recording also captured audio, to which Donato can be heard saying: “take the most ‘sus’ picture that [name redacted] can think of.”
District Attorney Jason W. Smith said in the release justice was served, as Donato preyed on children: “We are grateful that the parents trusted their instincts and promptly alerted this abuse to authorities as soon as they became aware of it. Their swift action and the sound investigation by the Carolina Beach Police Department undoubtedly prevented the abuse of other children in our community.”
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