Two men from North Carolina have been sentenced to over ten years in prison each for possession of child pornography. The sentences were handed down by Senior United States District Judge Catherine C. Eagles at the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. This announcement was made by Randall S. Galyon, Acting United States Attorney for the MDNC.
David Arnold Sharpe, aged 41, from Davidson County, received a sentence of 228 months in prison followed by 20 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography. This sentence will run consecutively with a 24-month sentence related to the revocation of supervised release in a previous case.
Court documents reveal that Sharpe, who is a registered sex offender and was on federal supervised release, admitted to his probation officer that he possessed an unauthorized device containing child pornography. A search conducted by United States Probation Officers at Sharpe's residence uncovered a cell phone with such material. Subsequently, investigators from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office identified Sharpe after receiving a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) about suspected uploads of child pornography on Facebook originating from Davidson County. Further investigations showed that Sharpe had been involved in trading child pornography online.
Luigi Carciati, aged 49, from Davie County, was sentenced on March 14, 2025, to 168 months imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release for possessing child pornography since October 2023. He was also ordered to pay $74,000 in restitution. Multiple tips led NCMEC to execute a search warrant at Carciati’s Mocksville residence where they found devices containing illicit material. Additionally, Carciati had secretly recorded minors using hidden cameras placed at La Vita e Bella—a restaurant he owned—in the women's restroom and under the cash register drawer.
The investigations into both cases were supported by various law enforcement agencies including local sheriff's offices and Homeland Security Investigation (HSI). Assistant United States Attorneys Kennedy Gates and Karla Painter prosecuted these cases.
These actions are part of Project Safe Childhood—an initiative aimed at combating online child sexual exploitation led by the Department of Justice through coordination among federal, state, and local resources.