Researcher gets 10 years
‘Boy lover’ caught in sting operation
James Cavalcoli’s career path took him to the cutting edge of genetics and cancer research, but it came to an abrupt stop in August after hewas arrested at a Weston hotel for trying to have a sexual rendezvous with a 14-year-old boy.
On Wednesday morning, the 51-year-old former University of Michigan assistant professor of computational medicine and bioinformatics was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, the minimum mandatory sentence for his crime.
“All of the good things that Jim would have done — saving lives — he’s helped save an un- told number of lives with his research,” David Rothman, Cavalcoli’s attorney, told U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch before sentencing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale.
Cavalcoli pleaded guilty in January to attempting to coerce or entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Cavalcoli’s father traveled fromhis home in Buffalo, N.Y., to attend the sentencing and address the court.
“Our family has never had any occasion to be in a court of law prior to this,” said David Cavalcoli told the judge.
“As his dad and best friend, I have nurtured and guided my son his entire life,” he continued, his voice fluttering as he started to cry.
He denounced the federal minimum sentence requirement, saying his son’s “personal history and contributions to society” should be balanced
against his crime.
Cavalcoli traveled 1,200 miles to engage in sexwith a boy, after he had communicated over 18months with a person he believed to be the boy’s father, authorities said. He described himself as a “boy lover” in an online forum, court records show.
The father and son never existed but were part of an Internet sting conducted by the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Cavalcoli sent explicit emails to the agents, who
Brian Athey, professor
at
the University ofMichigan had been monitoring a social networking website that included chatter about sexual activity with young boys.
Cavalcoli received a doctorate in molecular biology in 1993 and was leading a team of scientists at the University of Michigan prior to his arrest on Aug. 7 in the lobby of aWeston hotel, where he was looking to meet the father and his son.
When agents with the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force approached him, Cavalcoli admitted that he arranged to meet an adult male and his son at the hotel to engage in sex with the boy. He also admitted to sending explicit images of himself to the minor, according to court records.
Several of Cavalcoli’s former co-workers wrote letters to the court on his behalf. Most of their statements praised his talent and willingness to put in extra work to further their research, but one from Brian Athey, a professor of psychiatry and internal medicine at the University of Michigan, also expressed shock.
“We were all totally shocked and dismayed to learn of Jim’s recent arrest and conviction,” Athey said. “No one here at the university, or in his broader social network, had any idea of this side of Jim.”
Cavalcoli had been in custody since his arrest and likely will serve his sentence near his parents’ home inNewYork.
bballou@tribpub.com, 954-495-5310, Twitter @briballou