NY Man Gets Prison Time For Child ‘Sex Slave’ Scheme Which Ensnared Minors In Multiple States, Including CT

CONNECTICUT — A New York man accused of using social media to coerce minor girls into creating sexually explicit videos and images has been sentenced to 50 years in federal prison.

James Pagliaro, 27, of Middletown, New York, was sentenced to 600 months in prison during a proceeding Friday before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport.

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The victims included teens in several states and abroad, and prosecutors said the man traveled to Connecticut to engage in sex with a 15-year-old girl.

After he serves his sentence, Pagliaro will be on supervised release for the rest of his life, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan said the defendant “exploited social media apps to cast a wide net to ensnare young girls into committing sexually degrading acts for his own gratification.”

“When successful, he used grooming techniques and psychological manipulation to coerce, abuse, and terrorize his victims,” Sullivan said.

According to federal prosecutors, between April 2024 and March 2025, Pagliaro sent sexually explicit messages, including explicit photographs of himself, to thousands of minor girls on social media applications, including Snapchat and TikTok, in an apparent attempt to ensnare and cultivate child “sex slaves.”

Prosecutors say he successfully coerced at least four girls, including a 15-year-old in Connecticut, a 15-year-old in the United Kingdom, a 15-year-old in New Jersey, and a 16-year-old in Florida, into producing hundreds of sexually explicit images and videos.

Pagliaro traveled to Connecticut at least three times to engage in sexual conduct with the 15-year-old Connecticut victim, prosecutors said.

Investigators analyzed Pagliaro’s phone and discovered he had exchanged tens of thousands of texts with victims, including many messages highlighting their age, and spoke with them on phone and video calls hundreds of times, according to the government.

Prosecutors said Pagliaro initially professed his love to victims, promising he would marry them once they turned eighteen, but later threatened them, sending photographs of guns, ammunition and knives. He told the Connecticut victim he could murder someone’s entire family without having any trouble sleeping at night and she should “keep that in mind,” according to the government.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Pagliaro had the Connecticut victim sign a three-page slavery contract purporting to memorialize her “eternal slavery” to him, and he encouraged her to recruit other minors to engage in sexual conduct with him.

The evaluation of Pagliaro’s phone revealed he possessed thousands of other videos and images of children in sexually explicit conduct, including videos depicting the sexual exploitation of infants and toddlers, according to the government.

Homeland Security Investigations New England Acting Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Grimming called Pagliaro a “depraved child predator.”

“He contacted hundreds of children online and successfully ensnared several girls, making them first believe they were in a real, loving relationship before slowly exerting more control, more abuse, and more violence,” Grimming said.

Pagliaro was arrested in March 2025. In February, he pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography, enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, and traveling to engage in sexual activity with a minor. He has been detained since his arrest.

In a pre-sentencing letter to the judge, Pagliaro apologized to the victims.

“I want to start off by saying how remorseful I am for my actions…There is nothing I can say or do to justify my actions. I never meant to cause the harm or stress that I did to the victims or their families,” Pagliaro wrote.

He said his life “revolved around drugs and alcohol,” and he is now sober.

“I can’t take back what I’ve done, all I can hope for is that the victims and their families can heal, move on and forgive me,” the letter states.

Read more:

NY Man Accused Of Traveling To CT For Sex With Minor: Feds