Accused sex tourist from Cape faces trial in January

2006-10-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

A wealthy Cape May County hotelier will stand trial in January on federal charges that he had sex with underage boys outside the United States.

Anthony Mark Bianchi, 45, has been detained without bond in a federal prison in Philadelphia since his arrest Jan. 11. Federal prosecutors say Bianchi visited Romania, Moldova and Cuba to have sex with children.

Bianchi, who co-owns the Ivanhoe Hotel in North Wildwood with his parents, hired famed Los Angeles trial lawyer Mark Geragos, whose clients included Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson and Winona Ryder.

Geragos did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

All the victims were younger than 16 at the time of the encounters, authorities say.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. Levy on Friday said that at least six of the children with whom Bianchi stands accused of having sex or arranging to have sex would testify at a trial set for Jan. 29 in Philadelphia. The trial is expected to take about three weeks.

Bianchi has not been charged with any crimes in New Jersey. He faces 12 counts including engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places. He is being prosecuted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rather than in New Jersey because he departed on his foreign trips from Philadelphia International Airport.

Bianchi was convicted of molestation in Russia and sentenced to three years in prison on July 28, 2000, but was granted amnesty the same day. Bianchi said in court papers that he was acquitted of those charges.

Levy said Bianchi was not extradited to stand trial in the countries where the illicit sex occurred because they do not have the resources to prosecute cases like this.

“They don't have the investigators to track down leads,” he said.

Recent changes in American law give federal authorities wider latitude to prosecute accused sex tourists, Levy said.

Investigators executed two search warrants at the Cape May County Library. They used Bianchi's credit cards, telephone records and travel agents to piece together his international itineraries.

In one seized note written to one of the victims, Bianchi allegedly wrote, “I have tried to teach you life's valuable lesson — the meaning of true friendship — compromise, trust and understanding.”

He drew a smiley face with curly hair beneath his signature.

In July, after spending more than six months behind bars, Bianchi asked U.S. District Court Judge Bruce W. Kauffman to revoke the pretrial detention, arguing that the government was dragging its feet in preparing its case.

In an order signed Aug. 10, the judge declined.

Prosecutors said Bianchi was a flight risk who had little fear of traveling to remote parts of third-world countries in which he does not speak the native language.

“Once there, with his wealth, he will be like Mr. Kurtz in Josef Conrad's ‘Heart of Darkness,'” prosecutors wrote in court papers.

Prosecutors said Bianchi traveled with a Connect Four game that he used “to entertain children as part of his seduction efforts.”

Further, they said Bianchi's behavior during a 2005 trip to Romania disturbed George Iurca, his tour guide, so much that Iurca warned Bianchi's host family “to watch their three minor sons” during his visit.

Trail of Scott peterson

Accused sex tourist from Cape faces trial in January