Married father-of-two who masterminded an online child porn ring dubbed the 'Bored Group' that spanned the US and Canada sobs as he's sentenced to 40 years in prison for preying on more than 100 girls over five years.
6 December 2018
Christian Maire, a 40-year-old married father-of-two from Binghamton, New York, was sentenced for exploiting more than 100 girls over five years
Maire was alleged leader of a sophisticated child porn ring operated by nine men pretending to be teen boys.
Prosecutors said the men, many of them married with children, would convince, or blackmail, vulnerable teens into performing sex acts on web camera.
The married father-of-two who was dubbed the mastermind of a sophisticated online child pornography ring called the 'Bored Group' broke down in tears as he was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in prison for preying on more than a 100 vulnerable teenage girls for years.
Christian Maire, a 40-year-old married father-of-two from Binghamton, New York, learned his fate in US District Court in Detroit after hearing several heart-wrenching victim impact statements from some of the exploited girls and their families.
Prosecutors dubbed him the group's mastermind and said that for five years, Maire and eight other handpicked, like-minded online sex predators - some of them family men boasting advanced degrees and impressive computer skills - pretended to be teenage boys in private chatrooms to coerce girls as young as 10 years old to masturbate on camera for the men's sexual gratification.
One victim nicknamed 'Princess' was manipulated by 47-year-old IT worker Arthur Simpatico into engaging in a sex act, reported the Detroit News.
A socially awkward student who was an elite dancer enrolled at ballet school and battled anxiety and loneliness was talked into producing more than 60 videos of herself performing sexual acts.
A troubled 16-year-old girl from New Orleans was encouraged to cut herself and repeatedly perform sex acts on camera after being blackmailed by the predators, who she said threatened to harm her and her family members if she refused to comply, reported the Detroit Free Press.
Court records filed in the case described a highly organized group in which each of the nine members had a specific role to play.
Some were 'hunters' in charge of luring teenage girls from social media sites like Gifyo, Periscope, YouNow and MyLOL to an unmoderated private chatroom known in court filings as ‘Website A.’
Maire was the primary ‘hunter,’ along with Jonathan Negroni Rodriguez, 37, of West Hollywood, California, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday.
Others, like 36-year-old Brett Sinta, of North Carolina, and Arthur Simpatico, of Ontario, were 'talkers’ whose job it was to engage the victims in small talk and gradually persuade them to perform sex acts on web camera.
Sinta was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in the vile venture.
Then there were 'loopers,' who would step in if a girl became suspicious of the men in the chatroom masquerading as teenage boys. 'Loopers' were tasked with convincing reluctant girls to stay in the chatroom.
The 'Bored Group' first came together in 2012 and coalesced around ‘Website A’ after becoming frustrated with monitoring on another social media site.
In 2017, FBI agents acting on information obtained two years prior from a Michigan child pornography suspect busted Maire’s ring.
Agents traced IP addresses to identify individual members of the porn ring, including Michal Figura, 36, an IT specialist at the University of Pennsylvania and a married father of two young children, who prosecutors said masturbated to child pornography five nights a week before bedtime.
The investigation into the criminal enterprise revealed that ‘the Bored Group’ used a password-protected spreadsheet that included names of victims, links to their social media pages and descriptions of the best ways to manipulate each girl into performing sex acts.
Most of the victims identified by investigators were vulnerable girls suffering from eating disorders, engaging in self-harm and suffering from suicidal thoughts.
The callous sexual exploitation has left many of the young women shattered and exacerbated their existing mental health problems.
The mother of the Canadian dancer wrote in a letter read aloud in court that her daughter missed an entire year of school and was taking medications.
‘Her dance dreams died,’ the letter stated. ‘This has taken years from her. Years.’
The victim from New Orleans, now aged 20, told the court that to this day, she cannot use a computer and struggles with anxiety and depression.
The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was targeted by the online predator aged 10 said her daughter has had night terrors almost every night and has been struggling at school as a result of the trauma.
‘Thinking back to those days causes me to cry myself to sleep, wondering when the monsters will stop haunting me,’ another victim told the judge.
When given a chance to speak, a sobbing Maire apologized to all of his victims and said he was ashamed of himself.
‘I've shattered so many lives. I never knew I could sink this low,’ he said. ‘I took advantage of your youth and trust and put my own selfishness above your dignity.’
The 40-year-old insisted that he was sick and pointed a finger of blame at his addiction to pornography.
‘Pornography led me down a very dark road,’ he added. ‘If I was here as a parent instead of a defendant, I would be devastated.’
His accomplice Simpatico also issued an apology, saying that while he did not intend to hurt anyone and that he cannot take back what he had done, he hopes to ‘be a better person in the future.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6467...years.html
6 December 2018
Christian Maire, a 40-year-old married father-of-two from Binghamton, New York, was sentenced for exploiting more than 100 girls over five years
Maire was alleged leader of a sophisticated child porn ring operated by nine men pretending to be teen boys.
Prosecutors said the men, many of them married with children, would convince, or blackmail, vulnerable teens into performing sex acts on web camera.
The married father-of-two who was dubbed the mastermind of a sophisticated online child pornography ring called the 'Bored Group' broke down in tears as he was sentenced on Wednesday to 40 years in prison for preying on more than a 100 vulnerable teenage girls for years.
Christian Maire, a 40-year-old married father-of-two from Binghamton, New York, learned his fate in US District Court in Detroit after hearing several heart-wrenching victim impact statements from some of the exploited girls and their families.
Prosecutors dubbed him the group's mastermind and said that for five years, Maire and eight other handpicked, like-minded online sex predators - some of them family men boasting advanced degrees and impressive computer skills - pretended to be teenage boys in private chatrooms to coerce girls as young as 10 years old to masturbate on camera for the men's sexual gratification.
One victim nicknamed 'Princess' was manipulated by 47-year-old IT worker Arthur Simpatico into engaging in a sex act, reported the Detroit News.
A socially awkward student who was an elite dancer enrolled at ballet school and battled anxiety and loneliness was talked into producing more than 60 videos of herself performing sexual acts.
A troubled 16-year-old girl from New Orleans was encouraged to cut herself and repeatedly perform sex acts on camera after being blackmailed by the predators, who she said threatened to harm her and her family members if she refused to comply, reported the Detroit Free Press.
Court records filed in the case described a highly organized group in which each of the nine members had a specific role to play.
Some were 'hunters' in charge of luring teenage girls from social media sites like Gifyo, Periscope, YouNow and MyLOL to an unmoderated private chatroom known in court filings as ‘Website A.’
Maire was the primary ‘hunter,’ along with Jonathan Negroni Rodriguez, 37, of West Hollywood, California, who was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday.
Others, like 36-year-old Brett Sinta, of North Carolina, and Arthur Simpatico, of Ontario, were 'talkers’ whose job it was to engage the victims in small talk and gradually persuade them to perform sex acts on web camera.
Sinta was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in the vile venture.
Then there were 'loopers,' who would step in if a girl became suspicious of the men in the chatroom masquerading as teenage boys. 'Loopers' were tasked with convincing reluctant girls to stay in the chatroom.
The 'Bored Group' first came together in 2012 and coalesced around ‘Website A’ after becoming frustrated with monitoring on another social media site.
In 2017, FBI agents acting on information obtained two years prior from a Michigan child pornography suspect busted Maire’s ring.
Agents traced IP addresses to identify individual members of the porn ring, including Michal Figura, 36, an IT specialist at the University of Pennsylvania and a married father of two young children, who prosecutors said masturbated to child pornography five nights a week before bedtime.
The investigation into the criminal enterprise revealed that ‘the Bored Group’ used a password-protected spreadsheet that included names of victims, links to their social media pages and descriptions of the best ways to manipulate each girl into performing sex acts.
Most of the victims identified by investigators were vulnerable girls suffering from eating disorders, engaging in self-harm and suffering from suicidal thoughts.
The callous sexual exploitation has left many of the young women shattered and exacerbated their existing mental health problems.
The mother of the Canadian dancer wrote in a letter read aloud in court that her daughter missed an entire year of school and was taking medications.
‘Her dance dreams died,’ the letter stated. ‘This has taken years from her. Years.’
The victim from New Orleans, now aged 20, told the court that to this day, she cannot use a computer and struggles with anxiety and depression.
The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was targeted by the online predator aged 10 said her daughter has had night terrors almost every night and has been struggling at school as a result of the trauma.
‘Thinking back to those days causes me to cry myself to sleep, wondering when the monsters will stop haunting me,’ another victim told the judge.
When given a chance to speak, a sobbing Maire apologized to all of his victims and said he was ashamed of himself.
‘I've shattered so many lives. I never knew I could sink this low,’ he said. ‘I took advantage of your youth and trust and put my own selfishness above your dignity.’
The 40-year-old insisted that he was sick and pointed a finger of blame at his addiction to pornography.
‘Pornography led me down a very dark road,’ he added. ‘If I was here as a parent instead of a defendant, I would be devastated.’
His accomplice Simpatico also issued an apology, saying that while he did not intend to hurt anyone and that he cannot take back what he had done, he hopes to ‘be a better person in the future.’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6467...years.html
