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New Rochelle resident Jason Ricketts was sentenced on Thursday, April 4 to 21 years in prison for sexual acts involving three children, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office announced.
According to the DA's Office, Ricketts' crimes began in 2019, when he befriended children as young as 8 years old by going to locations where young people gathered and convincing them and their parents that he was younger than he was.
Ricketts would then bring the children to his home, give them illicit substances, and physically and psychologically abuse them, District Attorney Miriam Rocah said.
As part of this abuse, Ricketts would repeatedly engage in sexual conduct with the children and film it. He would then threaten to post the videos and images on social media when his victims threatened to stop spending time with him, according to Rocah.
This cycle of abuse continued until 2023 when the online cloud storage company Dropbox filed a cyber tip line report with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which led authorities to identify Ricketts as a suspect. Authorities then searched Ricketts' New Rochelle residence and seized several devices.
One of these devices was found to contain a photo vault disguised as a calculator application that contained dozens of photos and videos of Ricketts performing sexual acts on children.
Following this, Ricketts was arrested in February 2023. He later pleaded guilty to his charges on Thursday, Jan. 29, Rocah said.
In addition to his prison sentence, Ricketts will serve 20 years of post-release supervision and will be required to register as a sex offender. He has been held at Westchester County Jail since his arrest.
"This is a case that highlights the way in which law enforcement works to stop sex offenders who scope out and prey upon vulnerable children," Rocah said on Thursday, adding, "They then trap them into a vicious cycle of abuse, manipulation, and isolation, using threats to expose them on social media, and elsewhere."
Rocah also praised Ricketts' victims for their bravery in coming forward and exposing his actions.
"The earlier victims can come forward to a trusted adult or friend, the better. Young victims are never, ever to blame in these circumstances," Rocah said.
The DA's Office released statements given by the victims in court:
"I met you when I was 8 years old, and then you became a constant in my life when I was 11 years old.... You stole years of my life from me...." one victim said, adding, "Not only did your actions affect me, but you affected others who once called you their friend; but you weren’t really a true friend, you were a wolf in sheep’s clothing...a predator. You deserve all the time in prison you’re getting; you need to be far away from kids.”
"I was 12 years old...I would walk around afraid all the time.... Every time I tried to make a new friend, you would blackmail me and try to scare me.... I am not afraid of you anymore," said the second victim, who continued, "After today, I hope I never see you again.”
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