By Forum Staff
On Friday, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, L.I., Anthony Pangallo, a previously convicted sex offender, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and, during the plea hearing, admitted to soliciting and receiving sexually explicit images and videos from four young female victims.
Photo Courtesy of Google
Pangallo pleaded guilty on Friday at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, L.I.
According to court filings and statements during today’s plea proceeding, Pangallo, 41, was initially arrested on May 20, 2021, at his residence in Rego Park, on state charges filed in Westport, Conn. The Connecticut charges, which remain pending, involved a 15-year-old female victim, who Pangallo met online and manipulated into sending him sexually explicit images of herself. Subsequent investigation, which included a lawful search of Pangallo’s cell phone, revealed numerous online communications with other minor females from whom the defendant solicited sexually explicit images. Specifically, four children from Long Island—a 12-year-old and three 13-year-olds—were identified as victims, leading to the federal charges in this case. During his communications with these minors, Pangallo pretended to be a teenager, manipulated the victims into believing that they were in a relationship together, and then pressured them into sending him sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. At the time that he committed these crimes, Pangallo was registered as a sex offender due to a prior conviction in August 2009 for sexual assault of a minor in Atlantic City, N.J.
When sentenced, Pangallo faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment and up to 50 years in prison, federal prosecutors noted.
