A former NYPD officer who sexually exploited nearly 50 children online by manipulating them into sending him nude photos and videos and engaging them in lewd conversations in which he sometimes encouraged them to hurt themselves, was sentenced to a whopping 23 years in prison on Friday.
“Carmine Simpson betrayed his badge by preying upon minors for twisted sexual gratification. Simpson repeatedly prowled online for minor victims before coercing them to provide sexually explicit and degrading content,” Christopher Raia, assistant director in charge of the FBI New York field office, which led the investigation into Simpson, said in a statement. “The FBI will never tolerate any individual who exploits children, especially those with sworn duties to protect them.”
Simpson prowled Twitter for vulnerable children and enticed them to chat in real time on Facebook and Snapchat by pretending to be a 17-year-old boy, using a filter to make himself look younger, according to court documents.
He was caught in 2020 when the mother of a 13-year-old transgender boy found their messages on her son’s computer and filed a police report. Simpson messaged the boy, who is referred to in court documents as John Doe 2, “Do you take good nudes?” and asked him to “Prove it.”
Simpson encouraged the teen to write on his body with marker, saying: “How many words do you think we can add to your body?” The victim sent him at least two sexually explicit videos, according to court records.
Simpson resigned from the NYPD in 2022.
He pleaded guilty in 2023 to one count of sexually exploiting a minor.
“The defendant’s repeated sexual solicitation and exploitation of minors is reprehensible,” Joseph Nocella, Jr., interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, said in a statement. “That he was a law enforcement officer at the time he committed these crimes makes his conduct even more horrific.”
