BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A 24-year-old Stratford man was sentenced on Monday to 11 years in prison, followed by seven years of supervised release, for child exploitation offenses, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Alexander Dilella sexually exploited underage girls from throughout the United States using Snapchat and other online applications, Public Affairs Officer Tom Carson, of the U.S. Department of Justice, said in a release issued on March 25.
Dilella was ordered to pay $24,000 in restitution. He was arrested on May 4, 2022, and pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography on Nov. 8, 2023.
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Prosecutors said that Dilella used various online applications such as Snapchat, FaceTime and Omegle to communicate with at least nine minors across the country and manipulate them into engaging in sexual activity while livestreaming. Carson added that some of the minors were as young as 12 and 13 years old.
The youths would also send Dilella explicit images and videos of themselves, while he sent sexually explicit images of himself to several of the youths.
“During one Snapchat exchange with a 14-year-old victim in Colorado, Dilella referred to the girl as a “child porn slave” and demanded that she send him a sexually explicit image of herself, which she did. Dilella also attempted to meet a 16-year-old victim in Stratford to engage in sex acts with him, but they could not agree on a location,” Carson’s report said, noting that Dilella declined because he felt it was a “trap.”
Investigators seized Dilella’s iPhone on May 24, 2021, and an analysis of the phone revealed videos of prepubescent children being sexually abused, Carson said.
Dilella has been released on a $250,000 bond and must report to prison on May 15.
Homeland Security Investigations investigated the matter with assistance from the Stratford and Milford Police Departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel M. Krull. The prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, aimed at protecting children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
To learn more about Project Safe Childhood, one can visit www.justice.gov/psc. To report cases of child exploitation, one can visit www.cybertipline.com.
Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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