Stratford man gets 11 years for exploiting girls

BRIDGEPORT — A Stratford man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually exploiting girls on the Internet, officials say.

In a release, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut’s office said Alexander Dilella, 24, was sentenced in federal court in Bridgeport on Monday to 132 months of imprisonment, followed by seven years of supervised release, for offenses related to his sexual exploitation of girls across the country through Snapchat and other online applications.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Dilella was also ordered to pay $24,000 in restitution.

In 2020 and 2021, the

U.S. attorney’s office said, Dilella used various online applications, including Snapchat, FaceTime and Omegle, to communicate with at least nine minor girls across the country. It said some of the victims were as young as 12 and 13 years old.

The U.S. attorney’s office said Dilella would manipulate them to engage in sexual activity while livestreaming, as well as get them to send him explicit images and videos of themselves. It said Dilella also sent sexually explicit images of himself to several minor victims.

During one Snapchat exchange with a 14-yearold victim in Colorado, the U.S. attorney’s office said, Dilella referred to the girl as a “child porn slave” and demanded that she send him a sexually explicit image of herself, which she did.

“Dilella also attempted to meet a 16-year-old victim in Stratford to engage in sex acts with him, but they could not agree on a location,” it said. “When the victim suggested they meet in her basement, Dilella declined because he felt was a ‘trap.’”

The U.S. attorney’s office said investigators seized Dilella’s iPhone on

May 24, 2021, and an analysis of it revealed videos of prepubescent children being sexually abused. It said he was arrested on May 4, 2022, and pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography last November.

Dilella is released on $250,000 bond, the U.S. attorney’s office said, adding he is required to report to prison May 15.