'Engaging Pirate' Made Plans To Meet 14-Year-Old Girl For Sexual Encounter In Hudson Valley: DOJ

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — An Albany County man went to great lengths, in uncomfortable detail, to arrange what he thought would be a sexual encounter with a teen girl, but he found federal agents waiting for him instead of his expected victim.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the FBI, James C. Barnacle, Jr., announced criminal charges against 30-year-old Anthony Parente, connected to his communications online and over the phone with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl; and attempting to meet the girl to engage in sexual activities.

Parente was taken into federal custody on April 2, and presented before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Judith C. McCarthy in White Plains federal court on April 3.

The Loudonville man was charged with one count of coercion and enticement of a minor. The statutory minimum for the charge is 10 years in prison, and the maximum is life in prison, according to Clayton.

"There is little we take more seriously than protecting our children," Clayton said. "As alleged, Anthony Parente targeted someone he believed to be a teenaged girl for explicit enticement to participate in sexual activity and then traveled into the Southern District of New York with the intention of engaging in sex with a minor. New Yorkers abhor this alleged conduct; it has no place here. Our prosecutors and our FBI partners are committed to identifying and holding accountable those who attempt to prey on our children."

Parente was identified on March 27, as part of a multi-agency operation. He communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer that he believed to be a 14-year-old girl using online chat applications, text messaging, and phone calls, according to the feds. During these exchanges, using the screen name, "Engaging Pirate," Parente discussed his sexual preferences with the undercover officer and provided instructions as to how she might gratify them, in addition to asking for nude photographs, investigators said. During their communications, Parente sent the officer selfies, according to prosecutors.

After six days of communicating, the officer and Parente arranged a meet-up for sex, according to the allegations outlined in court documents. On Apr. 2, Parente drove approximately two hours to the agreed-upon location in Middletown, where he was taken into custody by New York State Police and found to have bondage equipment on his person, according to the arresting officers.

In a post-arrest statement made after being read his rights, Parente admitted that he had communicated with a 14-year-old girl and intended to engage in oral and vaginal intercourse with her, according to the accusations filed with the court.

"Anthony Parente allegedly engaged in sexually explicit conversations with a purported minor girl and planned to sexually abuse her before authorities arrested him," Barnacle said. "The FBI continues to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies to hold accountable any sexual predator who targets minors online for perverted gratification."

Clayton praised the investigative work of the FBI New York Office Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, the New York State Police Troop F – Computer Crimes Unit and Community Stabilization Unit, the FBI Albany Field Office, New York State Police Troop G, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.

The prosecution is being handled by the office's White Plains Division, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Briggs in charge of the prosecution.

The DOJ is asking anyone who has seen similar online behavior to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or use the online tips page.