A Canadian man, Ramanan Pathmanathan, was sentenced to 33 years in prison for an eight-year sextortion scheme that targeted more than 145 children in the United States, including victims as young as 6. He used Instagram and Facebook Messenger to coerce minors into explicit video chats, record them, and threaten to share the recordings unless they complied. #RamananPathmanathan #Instagram #FacebookMessenger #FBI
Keypoints
- Ramanan Pathmanathan was sentenced to 33 years in prison after pleading guilty.
- He targeted more than 145 children in the United States over an eight-year period.
- Victims were as young as 6 years old and were coerced through social media and video chats.
- He recorded sexually explicit conduct and threatened to send the files to victims’ friends and family.
- He must register as a sex offender and serve 10 years of supervised release.