Child sex predator gets eight years in prison
Repeat child sex predator Ioannis Paligiannis will spend the next four years in federal prison.
Justice Alex Sosna sentenced the Peterborough native to eight years, but credited the child sex offender with 49 months of pre-sentence custody.
Coupled with Paligiannis’ lack of response to prior sexual offender treatment programming and his ongoing denial or at best minimization of his pedophilia diagnosis, Sosna concluded Paligiannis presents an increased likelihood of reoffending. Sonsa said rehabilitation is of secondary importance, imperative of preventing further harm to children.
“Anything less would not be proportionate to the seriousness of the offence and the degree of harm done to the victim,” Sosna said.
On June 5, 2019, Paligiannis pleaded guilty to sexual interference, child luring, possession of child pornography and failing to comply with an order that prohibited him from having any contact with a person under the age of 16.
Court records show Paligiannis, then 28, met a 15-year-old boy on the online dating site Grindr in the winter of 2018.
The boy ’s mother became aware of her son’s involvement with the much older Paligiannis and contacted Peterborough Police.
Police interviewed the boy, and he told them how he met “Yanni” near the end of February on Grindr. At the onset of the conversations, the boy told Paligiannis he was 15, court heard.
Paligiannis asked for nude photos of the boy, who sent several, including a photo of his penis. The following day, the two met at a park. Paligiannis drove them back to his place where, according to court records, Paligiannis had unprotected sex with the teen.
In the days following, Paligiannis told the teen he loved him and wanted a relationship with him, court heard. There were arrangements for them to meet again, but police arrested Paligiannis on March 2, 2019.
During his sentencing submissions in September, court heard that Paligiannis asked the boy to sign a consent letter figuring he wouldn’t get in as much trouble if he had that on record.
In outlining the reasoning for an eight-year prison term, Sosna referenced the victim impact statement for the then-15year-old which indicated he now has trouble eating, he has
new fear and mistrust issues, and feels shame and embarrassment over the incident.
“As ongoing issues still occur till this day, the experiences have not aged well with me as person,” the teen wrote in his victim impact statement.
“It brings an immense amount of embarrassment for who I am as person, feeling used as if I was nothing.”
This isn’t the first time Paligiannis has targeted young boys online.
In 2014, Paligiannis admitted he sought out young boys. He took them to movies, bought them alcohol and gave them money in return for nude photos and oral sex.
His first run-in with the law came back in May 2013 when he
was caught in the act. On May 4, 2013, a Peterborough-Lakefield police officer came across a truck parked in Nicholls Oval around 10 p.m. Paligiannis got out of the truck and told the officer he was waiting for his friend to text him, but the officer saw a young teen undressed in the vehicle.
He was released on bail under the conditions not to possess any cellphones, pagers or mobile communication devices, but breached those conditions months later, landing him in jail for 30 days after pleading guilty to the charges.
He was back in court in February 2014 after using his computer to lure a14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy into a sexual relationship. Facebook conversations between Paligiannis and the boys were obtained by the police.
Court heard that Paligiannis told the teens he was bisexual and asked them several times for nude photos.
The conversation eventually led to Paligiannis sending one of the boys a picture of his penis, and the boy agreed to send a photo of his penis, if Paligiannis bought him alcohol.
Another one of Paligiannis’ victims sent a nude image of himself and asked what Paligiannis would give in return to see him naked in person.
He was sentenced to two years less a day in provincial jail in the summer of 2014 after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching under 16, luring a person under 16 and making sexually explicit material available to a person under 16.
In 2016, he was arrested for breaching his probation not to communicate with a person under the age of 16.
In late September of that year, a vigilante group targeting online sex predators said Paligiannis had communicated with one of its decoys posing as a 15-year-old, sending multiple photos of his penis and offering the boy gifts.