211 photos of nude women found in senior complex apartment By Sarah Cormier HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Anthony Pellegrino, a 64-year-old resident of Harrison Township, was arraigned in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township on July 11 on four charges related to taking nude photos of a 15-year-old girl. Pellegrino has been charged with three counts of child sexually abusive activity, each a 20-year felony, and one count of accosting a child for immoral purposes, a four-year felony. According to Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel, police have been investigating Pellegrino since June 27 of this year when a local mom came into the station to report possible misconduct against her 15-year-old daughter. Hackel said that the mother showed officers nude photos of her daughter on a boat that a friend of the girl alerted her to. According to Hackel, once the department interviewed the 15-year-old, they learned that another 18-year-old female, a friend, had introduced the girl to Pellegrino, stating that she could make some extra money by posing nude for him. The 15-year-old told police that she posed for Pellegrino three different times and that he paid her $40 each time. “The photos of her were very explicit and they with were with the 18 year old as well,” said Hackel. Hackel added that the 15-year-old had little information to give the police except for one clue, the name of the boat she had been taken to — called Tony’s Girl, a 1983 29-foot Crisscraft. The girl had also been able to identify a photo of Pellegrino from a 2005 larceny conviction in Roseville on file with the Sheriff’s Office. Based on that information, the Sheriff’s Office sent out members of the Marine Division to search for the craft on July 3. “With information she gave us, we decided to use the Marine Division to find this boat,” said Hackel. Hackel said that the department searched every marina in the area until it found the boat. “Sure enough, later on that afternoon, our Marine Division located that boat at Water’s Edge (marina),” said Hackel. From information retrieved from the boat, the department was able to get more information on Pellegrino. A search of Harbor Club South, an apartment complex located on Jefferson in Harrison Township, showed that Pellegrino had been evicted. However, on July 10, when officers searched Ahepa Apartments, a senior citizen complex located in the 26700 block of Crocker Boulevard in Harrison Township, they found Pellegrino was still living there. Hackel said that a 20-year-old female was in his apartment when officers arrived. Police also found 211 Polaroid photos of nude women and confiscated a laptop, digital cameras and approximately 30 untitled CDs. “Many of the photos were of nude woman or partially-nude women,” said Hackel, who added that in many of the photos, the background of a boat matched perfectly with how the interior of Pellegrino’s boat looked. Hackel said that the 20-year-old girl with Pellegrino in the apartment was identified and released, but is still being looked at as both a victim and a possible suspect. Hackel added that some of the Polaroids did reveal nude photos of the 20-year-old at a younger age. If the police can determine that some of the pictures were taken of her when she was underage, Pellegrino could be facing additional charges. “There were photos of her and we recognized that some of the photos were taken in 2005, which would have been taken at a young(er) age,” said Hackel. Moreover, police say that if either the 20-year-old or the 18-year-old lured the 15-year-old or any other underage girls to Pellegrino, then they could be charged as well. “We’re going to be looking at both of them as potential victims … as well as potential suspects, depending on how this played out,” said Hackel. At this time, police have not determined how many different females were in the Polaroid photos. Hackel asked that anyone with more information on the case call police at (586) 469-5151. You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Cormier at scormier@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1095. |
