A former softball coach in Cobb County has been arraigned on federal charges of distributing and possessing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
Nicholas Mazza, 66, of Powder Springs, worked as a coach for "GeorgiaScout" for girls between the ages of 8 and 17, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. Mazza was arrested Nov. 7 after federal investigators searched his home and found thousands of images and videos of young girls being sexually abused, Yates' office said.
“The victimization of children is one of the most heinous and despicable crimes imaginable,” Yates said in an emailed statement. “Distributing images of the sexual abuse of children on the Internet only compounds the harm done to the children. We will continue to vigorously pursue and prosecute those persons who collect and trade these images.”
In late October, investigators with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security monitoring “peer-to-peer” computer networks discovered a large number of child porn downloads to an IP address allegedly belonging to Mazza. On Nov. 6, Mazza’s home was searched and he was arrested the following day.
According to a criminal complaint, Mazza admitted to investigators that he viewed and saved child pornography for about 10 years, and that his preference was girls around the age of 10.
Mazza was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 9.
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