BURRILLVILLE – A man accused of having sex with a 12-year-old girl from Burrillville who he met online – and later trying to have her killed – retracted his not guilty plea to six counts of child molestation on Thursday in Providence Superior Court.
Chandler Cardente, 30, will serve 35 years on the state charges, according to reports. Cardente is also facing federal charges in the case, with sentencing in U.S. District Court scheduled for June.
The case dates back to 2021, when Cardente reportedly met the victim on Snapchat claiming he was 17-years-old, and arranged to pick her up at Burrillville Middle School. Police later located the girl in Warwick, where Cardente had left her on the side of the road.
Months later, while locked up at the ACI, Cardente reportedly offered an undercover law enforcement officer cash and tattoo equipment to kill the victim, saying she was a witness.
Cardente was a registered Level 3 sex offender prior to the Burrillville incident. He was convicted of first degree child molestation in 2014 for charges in West Warwick, and was sentenced to five years.
In March, Cardente pled guilty to federal charges of enticement of a minor, commission of a felony while being required to register as a sex offender and interstate murder for hire, a plea that also calls for 35 years.
Cardente initially pleaded not guilty to the state charges and retracted the plea on Thursday, May 1, according to records in the state criminal database.
