Man pleads guilty to soliciting child porn from girl with autism
A Flemington man pled guilty Wednesday to soliciting sexually explicit photos from underage girls online, including a girl with autism.
Thomas Pirretti, 34, of Flemington, pled guilty to manufacturing child pornography, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography and two counts of debauching the morals of a child.
The state will recommend Pirretti be sentenced to five years in state prison, under the terms of the plea agreement. He will also be required to register as a sex offender under Megan’s Law and will be subject to parole supervision for life. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 2, 2018.
“Pirretti is yet another case in point illustrating that those who share child pornography online often move on to hands-on conduct against children,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino said in a written statement. “Even after being arrested for child pornography, Pirretti was out on the internet, stalking young girls and deceiving a very vulnerable victim into sending him sexually explicit photos of herself.”
According to prosecutors in the case, the investigation revealed Pirretti met the autistic victim, a 16-year-old California resident, on the Nintendo Network in October 2014. After finding her phone number, Pirretti repeatedly called the girl and asked her to send him sexually explicit photos of herself. He also asked her to send photos of herself engaging in sexual activity with her younger female cousin. He told the victim that he would be her boyfriend if she complied with his demands. In response, the victim sent Pirretti at least 10 nude pictures of herself. When the victim’s mother learned about the conduct, she told local police, who traced the calls to New Jersey.
In November 2014, Pirretti also asked an 11-year-old Colorado girl to send him naked photos of herself. He met that victim on the Nintendo Network as well and found her phone number. That victim did not send any photos. When the victim’s father learned about the phone calls, he told local police, who entered the case into the cybertip database of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The phone number of the caller was again traced to Pirretti.
At the time of this conduct, prosecutors say, Pirretti was already facing charges of possession and distribution of child pornography stemming from his July 2014 arrest in “Operation Predator Alert,” a joint operation by the Division of Criminal Justice and ICE Homeland Security Investigations. A total of 28 individuals were arrested in Operation Predator Alert, in two separate sweeps, for allegedly using a file-sharing network to download and distribute child pornography, including child rape videos, on the internet.