PROVIDENCE – A registered sex offender residing in North Smithfield told to a federal judge on Wednesday that he posed as a 17-year-old boy and engaged in a series of explicit online communications with two young teenage boys living in Florida; that he attempted to obtain sexual explicit videos and images of the boys; that he sent them obscene videos of himself engaged in sexual activity; and that he attempted to arrange a meeting with a person whom he believed to be one of the boys to engage in illicit sexual activity, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha.
Nicholas Sannicandro, 34, was charged by way of indictment and pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted inducement of a minor to engage in illicit sexual activity, two counts of attempted transfer of obscene material to a minor, one count of possession and access with intent to view child pornography, and one count of commission of an offense by a registered sex offender.
No plea agreement has reportedly been filed in the matter.
According to Cunha, Sannicandro admitted that he met two Florida boys separately through an Instagram account and began communication with them in January 2021, continuing into June 2021. Sannicandro said that he had sexually explicit communications with both, asking them to send sexually explicit videos and images of themselves.
Sannicandro reportedly invited one of the boys to visit him in Rhode Island, but he was actually communicating with an undercover officer who had taken over the boy’s account. Prosecutors say he discussed sexual acts that he wanted to engage in with the boy and twice sent him videos of himself engaged in sexual activity during the communication.
Police arrested Sannicandro at a Warwick marina on June 22, 2021, where he was expecting to meet with the boy. The meeting had been arranged by an undercover officer from North Port, Fl. posing as the boy, and by the FBI. Police also found child pornography on his phone, which was seized from him upon his arrest.
Sannicandro was previously convicted of child pornography and attempted dissemination of obscene material to minors in Massachusetts, and was a registered sex offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced in this latest matter on Thursday, Sept. 19. Cunha said his sentence will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The case is being prosecuted by Asst. U.S. Attorneys Denise Barton and John McAdams.
The matter was investigated by the FBI and North Port, Fl., Police Department. Cunha thanked the Rhode Island State Police, members of the Rhode Island State Police Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, and the Warwick Police Department for their assistance in the arrest.
He is probably already out on bail after a slap on the rest onto his next victims.
That’s what the US system is now, catch and release!!
Lock him up and throw away the key. He should never see the outside again, unless it’s on a trip to court.