The U.S. Department of Justice seal. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - A Canadian man who admitted to operating a yearlong online sextortion scheme targeting children across the United States has been sentenced to 33 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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What we know:
40-year-old Ramanan Pathmanathan of Toronto was sentenced in federal court on Wednesday, after pleading guilty earlier this year to one count of production of child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement of a minor.
The Department of Justice credited the FBI Houston Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Texas Department of Public Safety for their roles in the investigation.
Details of the social media blackmail operation
FILE-In this photo Social media app on a phone. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
What they're saying:
Federal prosecutors said Pathmanathan used social media platforms, including Instagram and Facebook Messenger, to contact at least 145 children across the United States between 2014 and his arrest in March 2021.
Investigators said he posed as a teenage boy from New Jersey to gain the trust of victims, some as young as 6 years old.
Dig deeper:
According to court documents, Pathmanathan coerced children into participating in sexually explicit video chats, recorded the interactions and stored the files on his computer.
Prosecutors said he threatened to distribute images to victims’ friends and family members if they refused to comply or attempted to cut off contact.
Federal judge orders consecutive prison sentences
Cells at a prison in Tattenhall County, Georgia, circa 1940. (Photo by FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
What's next:
Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg sentenced Pathmanathan to 396 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
He also must register as a sex offender. The sentence will run consecutively to a 12-year prison sentence he is already serving in Canada for similar offenses.
The case involved cooperation between U.S. and Canadian authorities.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the United States Attorney's Office of the District of Columbia.