Veazie Man Receives 10 Years in Prison for Enticing Minors and Possessing Child Pornography

AUSTIN, Maine — Austin Cocchiaro, 24, of Veazie, received a 10-year prison sentence on May 8, 2026, for enticing minors and possessing child pornography, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The sentence, imposed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, includes 10 years of supervised release after prison. Cocchiaro must also register as a sex offender under federal law.

The scope of the case centers on one individual whose conduct involved direct online enticement of minors and possession of illegal images. Federal sentencing guidelines for these offenses routinely impose lengthy incarceration and lifetime-style supervision to prevent reoffending against child populations.

The operational change is immediate: Cocchiaro began serving the 120-month term on the sentencing date. Prior to sentencing he was in pretrial status; the new judgment shifts him into Bureau of Prisons custody for the full term, after which he enters a decade of supervised release that restricts internet use, proximity to minors, and travel.

Downstream, the conviction automatically triggers sex-offender registration under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, requiring Cocchiaro to provide current photographs, address, employment, and online identifiers to Maine state authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Any future move or new online account must be reported within three business days. The 10-year supervised-release period also places him under federal probation-officer oversight with warrantless search authority and mandatory treatment conditions. Violation of any term carries a new federal prison sentence.

This case is one of multiple child-exploitation prosecutions handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine in the past 12 months. The Department of Justice has pursued similar enticement and possession charges under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2422(b) and 2252A in federal courts nationwide as part of its Project Safe Childhood initiative.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice · U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.