College admissions employee tries sex trafficking teen applicant in MA, feds say
An administrator at a private Catholic college in Boston faces a federal sex trafficking charge after prosecutors said he kept texting a 17-year-old prospective student, offering to pay her $400 for sex acts with him.
Jacob Henriques, 29, who was the assistant admissions director at Emmanuel College, gave the teen a tour of the school and then started texting her — without revealing who he was — hours later on April 25, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts.
She's one of at least three admitted or prospective students Henriques met with that day and started contacting, offering to 'pay them for some fun,' prosecutors said. Henriques also offered to share pornography and sent pornographic content to some of them, according to prosecutors.
Henriques, of Boston, has potentially preyed on a number of victims between 2024 and 2025, according to the FBI, which is investigating. The agency's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force is looking for additional possible victims.
Now, Henriques is charged with attempted sex trafficking of a minor, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a May 2 news release. He was arrested the evening of May 2.
He was due in Boston federal court on May 5. Attorney information for him wasn't immediately available.
The text messages
When Henriques showed the 17-year-old girl around Emmanuel College on April 25, prosecutors said he asked her where she went to high school and what grade she was in.
Then, 'within hours of finishing the tour,' he messaged the phone number she included on her college admissions form and offered her $400 to have ''some fun' right now,' prosecutors said.
Henriques also said he had pornographic videos and photos 'for her,' according to prosecutors.
He texted her again that night, still not revealing who he was or how he had her contact information, prosecutors said.
Although she continued to reject Henriques' offers, he wouldn't stop texting the teen, according to prosecutors.
In his text messages, Henriques told her ''porn' and '$' was ready for her,'' then 'sent (her) five pornographic videos depicting men and women engaged in sex acts and asked her whether or not she wanted to participate in a 'gangbang,'' prosecutors said.
He kept questioning whether she'd like to engage in sex acts with him and offered to buy 'anything she wanted' if she agreed, according to prosecutors.
After she blocked his number, prosecutors said he contacted her, asking for sex acts, this time via email.
For three days — from the day Henriques gave the teen a tour of Emmanuel College up until April 28 — he visited her online profile 47 times, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
When Emmanuel College staff learned he was accused of predatory behavior, the school fired him, the college said in a statement, according to the Boston Herald.
'Emmanuel College is saddened, angered, and shocked by these serious federal allegations that have been brought against a former employee….We have cooperated fully with authorities from the moment this matter came to our attention and will continue to do so,' the college said.
Online search results show Emmanuel College listed Henriques as a 'proud alum' of the school's class of 2021 and that he reviewed college applications from local regions of Massachusetts.
His full employee profile is no longer visible as of May 5.
The FBI urges potential victims, or parents of minors alleged to be victimized by Henriques, to share information by filling out an online form.
If Henriques is convicted of attempted sex trafficking of a minor, he'd face a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in federal prison, at least five years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Topeka strip club owner indicted for machine gun possession
TOPEKA (KSNT) – New information is coming to light Tuesday following a raid by local and federal law enforcement at a Topeka strip club last week. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release on June 10 that a federal grand jury based out of Wichita returned an indictment charging Leonard Rrapaj, 61, of Topeka with illegal possession of a machine gun conversion device. Federal law enforcement with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated this case. 29-year-old Topeka man identified as homicide victim Shawnee County court documents from 2024 and a 2025 report from the Kansas Secretary of State (SOS) from 2024 listed Rrapaj as the owner of the Topeka Sports Cabaret, a strip club, which was raided by federal and local law enforcement on June 6. Law enforcement released few details following the raid, only confirming the presence of FBI agents at the club, which is located at 4216 Northeast Seward Avenue near the Oakland neighborhood. Rrapaj faces possible imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000 for the federal charge, according to court documents with the District of Kansas. Driver caught speeding 114 miles per hour in Topeka, fined nearly $1,000 For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here. Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Man from Ghana charged after alleged blackmail of Buffalo victim
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A man from Ghana faces an extortion charge after he allegedly used nude photographs of a victim in Buffalo to blackmail him, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Cross Abu Cole, 21, possessed nude photographs of the Buffalo male when he was a minor, according to a complaint made by the victim in October 2022. Cole then allegedly demanded $200 be sent to him otherwise he would send the photos to people the victim knew on Snapchat. The man also possessed a nude photo of the victim's friend, officials said. Numerous threats for money were made and nude photographs were sent out. An investigation traced the telephone number threats to Cole. He was taken into custody in Texas and was charged by criminal complaint with interstate communications with intent to extort. Cole faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Authorities reignite search for newborn abducted by fake social worker 40 years ago
More than 40 years after a 17-day-old was ripped from his family in Southern California, authorities hope a new age-progression image could be the key to finding the now-adult man who likely has no idea about his real parentage. The FBI and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children have released a new rendering of what Kevin Art Verville Jr., now 44, might look like if he's still alive like they believe. Kevin was abducted from his mother in San Diego County on July 1, 1980, by a woman posing as a social worker who claimed to be offering parental assistance to low-income military families near Camp Pendleton. The unknown woman showed up at the doorstep of Angelina and Kevin Verville in Oceanside, and identified herself only as 'Sheila.' She said she came from an organization called 'HELP,' offering financial assistance and newborn supplies to local military families. For the young parents, the offer seemed like a dream come true. But it quickly turned into their worst nightmare. Sheila agreed to come back later and take Angelina and Kevin Jr. to her organization's headquarters to enroll the newborn in the program. The mother and the infant rode with the stranger to a location in a remote, rural area in northern San Diego County. Sheila pulled over and asked Angelina to knock on the door of a nearby house where she said another mother enrolling in the program lived. 'But when Angelina got out, Sheila sped away with baby Kevin,' a profile on the NCMEC website reads. Angelina was left alone in the middle of nowhere. It was the last time she saw her son. Local authorities searched for 'Sheila' and Kevin Jr., but were unable to find any sign of them. The FBI later got involved in the search. Investigators later learned that the woman had been lurking in the off-base apartment complex for days leading up to the abduction, specifically looking for a child that met her criteria: under 6 months old and part Filipino. She spoke with dozens of people in the apartment complex before finally identifying the Vervilles as her target. She was seen by so many different witnesses in the preceding days that authorities were able to create a detailed description and a composite image of what she looked like. 'From the Vervilles' accounts, along with other residents, investigators say they're looking for a [white] woman who was in her twenties back in 1980, with red or blonde frizzy hair,' NCMEC said. 'She had a tattoo on her left hand in the webbing between her thumb and index finger. It was described as a circle with an 'X' inside. [She] also appeared pregnant.' The search continued with sparse leads that became dead ends. Days turned into weeks, and years turned into decades, with no arrest made or suspect ever identified. Now, 44 years later, the search for Kevin Jr. has been renewed. Unlike many missing child cases from decades ago, investigators believe Kevin Jr. is likely still alive, taken by his abductor to be raised as her own. According to 60 years' worth of data, NCMEC says the profile of a 'typical' infant abductor is usually 'a woman of childbearing age, who appears pregnant, and may be trying to replace a baby lost through miscarriage.' If alive like investigators believe — and his surviving family members hope — it's possible that the now-44-year-old has no idea about his real identity, the parents he lost or the sibling he never met. 'It's likely Kevin Jr. doesn't know what happened to him, or that his biological parents are still searching for him. Today, he could be anywhere, so we're asking everyone to be part of this search,' said Angeline Hartmann, NCMEC's director of communications. 'We need your help to bring him home.' On Tuesday, the FBI and NCMEC released a joint news release announcing the renewed efforts to locate Kevin Jr., which included a new age-progressed image that shows what he may look like as an adult man in 2025. The FBI is continuing to offer a $10,000 reward for information in the case. Officials for the Bureau say they are just as committed to finding him today as they were four decades ago. Among those most desperate to find him is Angelica Ramsey, the biological sister he never met, who has continued to reach out to investigators for updates on her brother's case. Anyone with information about the abduction of Kevin Verville Jr. is urged to contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678 or the FBI at 1-800-225-5324. Tips to the FBI can also be submitted online. 'Although baby Kevin was abducted 45 years ago, FBI San Diego's work to reunite him with his family has not ceased,' said Acting Special Agent in Charge Houtan Moshrefi. For more information on Kevin's story, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
