FBI Busts Massachusetts Father in Online Child Pornography Scam

Oct. 17, 2009— -- A 41-year-old Boston father has been extradited to Los Angeles to face numerous child pornography charges after he allegedly posed online as a 17-year-old boy to lure young girls into making sexually explicit videos.

Lawrence Joseph Silipigni, of Saugus, Mass., faces nine counts of child porn-related charges after he was arrested last month by the FBI following an investigation that netted numerous child porgnography videos, including some of girls as young as 7.

The indictment charges that Silipigni, the father of girls aged 10 and 7, traded these recordings with others in exchange for similar illegal pornographic material.

A woman who answered a cell phone registered to Silipigni's wife hung up when contacted by ABCNews.com

According to the FBI's arrest complaint, Silipigni was masquerading as 17-year-old Jamie -- using an identity and pictures he lifted off a teenage boy's MySpace page -- when he met a 13-year-old California girl in December 2007 through the video chatroom Web site, "Stickam."

Over the course of the next two months, as their online chats became increasingly sexually explicit, Silipigni made several attempts to convince the girl to masturbate for him via webcam, according to the complaint. In Feburary 2008, she gave in and -- thinking she was performing a private act for an online boyfriend -- masturbated in front of the computer, alternately using her fingers and crayons.

In the spring of 2008, the victim later told authorities, she was contacted by a 16-year-old girl named "Jane" who had also struck up an online relationship with Silipigni that had progressed to an in-person relationship. "Jane" had even met him in person and gone on a date with him to the movies, according to the complaint, though the two did not have sex.

According to the complaint, Jane warned the 13-year-old girl that Silipigni was actually in his 40s.

The girl was contacted shortly thereafter by another teenage girl named "Alice" who also warned her about Silipigni's age and that the women who lived in his home were actually his wife and daughters, not his mother and sisters as Silipigni had allegedly told her.

It was around that time when the victim said she was contacted by a friend who had seen her sex video online. An FBI search of the 13-year-old's computer in July 2008 turned up the video as well as explicit conversation between her and Silipigni.

"You r pedo," the victim wrote April 28, 2008, indicating she thought Silipigni was a pedophile.

"Sigh," Silipigni wrote back, according to the complaint. "I'm lonely and hate being old."

The suspect did more than sigh, the indictment claims. It accuses him of threatening to notify the girls' parents about their online activities if they cut him off online or didn't comply with his requests.

Search of Accused Man's Computer Nets Videos of Girls as Young as 7

Over the course of the next year, the FBI investigation turned up more underage girls who had corresponded with Silipigni online and were enticed into advertently making pornographic videos for him.

Investigators found evidence that Silipigni preyed on young girls through social networking sites using several aliases, including "Boston," "Jamin," "BostonJamin," "RJLarry," "Boston_Larry," "Jamin_Fallin,""Jaminfallen" and "here4Sam," police said.

Investigators said they released Silipigni's photo in case additional victims recognized him or his screen names, and urged them to call police at 310-477-6565.

During an April 2009 search of Silipigni's house and computer, according to the complaint, the FBI turned up numerous videos and evidence that Silipigni was in online chatrooms every day talking with girls he knew were minors.

According to the complaint, Silipigni admitted making videos of young girls via webcam chatrooms, but "did not recall" if he ever made the videos or conversations with the girls public.

Silipigni was arrestsed without incident at his home on Sept. 18 and was due to be transferred today to Los Angeles by U.S. Marshals.