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Perv who used Facebook to target minors gets 10 years from Brooklyn judge

March 20, 2018 By Rob Abruzzese, Legal Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Brooklyn Justice Jack Weinstein, from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (pictured), gave a convicted sex offender 10 years for using Facebook to a 12-year-old to solicit nude photos, which he then used to harass and blackmail her with. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese
Brooklyn Justice Jack Weinstein, from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (pictured), gave a convicted sex offender 10 years for using Facebook to a 12-year-old to solicit nude photos, which he then used to harass and blackmail her with. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese
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Brooklyn federal court Judge Jack B. Weinstein sentenced a man who used Facebook and other social media to solicit nude photos from a 12-year-old to 10 years in prison, officials announced on Tuesday. The man then used those photos to harass and blackmail the victim.

Christopher Arroyo, a 26-year-old from Queens, must register as a sex offender and will be under supervised release for five years after his 10-year prison sentence is up. He will also not be allowed unsupervised contact with minors following his release.

“Arroyo sexually exploited a child through social media, using threats and harassment to publicly shame the victim with the explicit images he enticed her to create,” said Interim U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue of the Eastern District of New York.

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“Today’s sentence will serve not only to protect the public from the defendant for a significant period of time, but it will also serve as a message to other child predators using the Internet to target victims that they will be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Donoghue continued.

Arroyo was 21-years-old when he used Facebook and other social media platforms to meet and convince a 12-year-old to take and send him sexually explicit photos of herself while she engaged in sexual conduct as directed by Arroyo, according to officials. Arroyo used those photos to harass the victim for years as he threatened to publicly post the images.

Three years after obtaining the photos, Arroyo followed through on his threats and created multiple fake accounts that he used to post the explicit images of the minor, according to court documents.

The FBI was able to trace this online activity back to Arroyo’s home in Queens and after obtaining a search warrant, they seized multiple computers and electronic devices found in the home, according to court documents. After examining the computers, agents found a folder on Arroyo’s computer containing a folder bearing the victim’s name with her photos in it.

“The FBI New York Crimes Against Children Task Force won’t ever stop investigating and arresting every predator we can, but it is incredibly difficult to stop predators before they make initial contact,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. “Cellphones, computers and social media give sexual criminals easy access to your children that they’ve never had before and that we did not have to contend when we were younger.”

Arroyo was prosecuted with the help of Project Safe Childhood, which is a nationwide initiative by the Department of Justice to fight child sexual exploitation and abuse. Assistant U.S. Attorneys G. Karthik Srinivasan and Drew G. Rolle were in charge of the prosecution.

 


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