More Girls Duped Into Online Sex Acts?
October 16, 2009 by Amy · Leave a Comment
Saugus Man Faces Federal Charges
BOSTON — Police are still looking for girls who may have allegedly been enticed by a Saugus man.
NewsCenter 5’s Jorge Quiroga reported that the FBI said Lawrence Silipigni duped dozens of girls into performing sex acts in front of Web cams.
The Saugus father of two was in federal court in Los Angeles, facing nine counts of producing and distributing child pornography. The FBI said he exploited dozens of young girls across the country — some of whom have not yet been identified.
Silipigni is accused of pretending to be a 17-year-old boy online. The FBI said from his home he trawled networking sites to lure young girls into posing for sexually explicit videos, which he secretly recorded.
Local high school students said that for some, the Internet lowers inhibition and raises vulnerability.
“The Internet is kind of anonymous, so maybe they are more brave on the computer than they are in life,” 15-year-old David Woodward said.
On the Web, Silipigni went by screen names like “Boston,” “Boston jammin” and “Boston Larry.”
“They build up this trust over a period of time, and they feel that they can release information post pictures once that trust is built,” Saugus Police Department Detective Fred Forni said.
Eventually it was a 14-year-old girl from Los Angeles who went to the feds after seeing her videos online.
Police said parents have to keep up with technology to protect their kids.
“Once they educate themselves as to what these sites are all about, then they have a good understanding as to what their kids are getting into,” Forni said.
When the feds went into his home last month, they allegedly found more than a 100 videos of Web cam sessions involving underage girls. The indictment alleges that he eventually confessed saying he used the videos for sexual gratification.
