LI lacrosse coach, 20, allegedly ‘sextorted' 30 boys in twisted Snapchat blackmail scheme
A Long Island high-school lacrosse coach 'sextorted' at least 30 boys, including a 13-year-old, authorities say.
The crimes allegedly committed by Valley Stream High School assistant boys coach Joseph Garofalo, 20, were so sickening that federal Judge James Wicks denied him bail at a hearing last month — despite the suspect's family begging and offering up more than $1.5 million in property as collateral.
Garofalo pleaded not guilty to allegedly sexually exploiting children, including a 13-year-old boy he is accused of coercing into sending sexually explicit images to him over Snapchat, newly unsealed court filings show.
The mother of the 13-year-old boy reached out to the FBI in October, saying her son had been targeted by a predator on Snapchat, according to the federal complaint.
Investigators traced the account to Garofalo and said the boy had sent nude photos and videos to him that showed the child's face.
Garofalo later messaged the teen, threatening to share the explicit content online unless the boy sent more nude photos to him — or even graphic images of his friends, according to the complaint.
'So I'm not gonna delete them for a guy that blocked me unless he gives me a good reason to,' Garofalo allegedly wrote in one exchange with the boy, adding, 'send stuff of ur boys naked n I'll delete.'
When the minor refused, Garofalo responded, 'welp then I'm not deleting.'
While most of the coach's alleged victims are from Long Island, no Valley Stream students were among them, according to district Superintendent Wayne Loper. The schools chief added that Garofalo no longer works for the district.
As part of their probe, the feds also linked Garofalo to a May 2024 tip from Snapchat to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, which flagged three files containing suspected child-sex-abuse material.
In response to a search warrant, Snapchat turned over at least nine separate images and videos involving all different minors that all appeared to be child-sex-abuse material, the complaint states.
When agents searched Garofalo's home last month, he agreed to a voluntary interview and allegedly admitted to recognizing one of the images, controlling the account, soliciting explicit content from minors, and possessing child-sex-abuse material on his devices.
The judge said Garofalo 'previously admitted to FBI agents upon arrest that he has an ' 'addiction' to the type of troubling behavior at issue here and, as such, has been unable to stop.'
The defendant's lawyer, Anthony La Pinta, said in a statement, 'These allegations come as a shock to the Garafolo family.
'Joseph is known to be a respectful, caring and hard-working young man.'
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