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NORFOLK, Va. — A Canadian man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Dec. 1 for orchestrating an online sextortion scheme and producing images of child sexual abuse. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) investigated the case.
“After nearly a decade, this case is finally coming to a close because of the relentless work of law enforcement,” said Raymond Villanueva, special agent in charge of HSI Washington, D.C. “Viscomi manipulated young victims into engaging in sexually explicit conduct, and then once identified, fought tirelessly to avoid facing charges for his actions. Today justice was served, and another child predator is behind bars.”
According to court documents, HSI and VBPD first identified Marco Viscomi, 36, of Ontario, in 2012 after a father reported that his daughters, ages 13 and 17 at the time, were sexually extorted online. He told VBPD that the person threatened the sisters and forced them to engage in sexually explicit conduct while he watched from Canada. VBPD and HSI traced the investigation to Ontario, where the agencies identified Viscomi, a then-26-year-old medical student, as the perpetrator.
“The defendant repeatedly engaged in the sexual exploitation and extortion of numerous young girls using threats and fear to commit devastating crimes,” said Raj Parekh, Acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “As this case demonstrates, we will aggressively pursue perpetrators of this unfathomable form of abuse — no matter how long it takes — to help bring a measure of justice and healing for the victims.”
Additional investigation uncovered Viscomi had engaged in similar sextortion conduct with hundreds of other victims. HSI identified and located over 70 such minors, including several sets of sisters Viscomi terrorized online. In July 2012, Viscomi was charged in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia and arrested in Canada. He fought extradition to the United States until December 2019, when the Canadian courts finally ordered him to be extradited to Norfolk to face the charges.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth M. Yusi and E. Rebecca Gantt prosecuted the case.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 6,800 special agents assigned to 225 cities throughout the United States and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.
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