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The operation, known as "Operation Catfish," was run by the Rockland County District Attorney's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), and resulted in the seven arrests and one guilty plea since January 2022, according to Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Walsh II.
According to Walsh, the following suspects were charged with using online media platforms that possessed child sexual abuse material:
- Peter Tralongo, age 34, of Valley Cottage was charged with promoting and possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child;
- Byron Diaz-Jeronimo, age 24, of Spring Valley was charged with promoting and possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child;
- Lazaro Hernandez, age 40, of Suffern was charged with promoting and possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child;
- Michael Anelli, age 24, of Palisades was charged with 25 counts of possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child.
Additionally, Walsh said the following suspects were charged with using chatrooms and social media platforms to engage in inappropriate conversations with children and lure them into meeting them for sex:
- Tomasz Szeliga, age 32, of Orangetown was charged with second-degree attempted criminal sexual act, first-degree attempted disseminating indecent materials to minors, and possessing a sexual performance by a child;
- Ryan Mowery, age 36, of Johnstown in Fulton County, New York, was charged with first-degree attempted dissemination of indecent materials to minors;
- Brain Reed, age 34, of Sussex, New Jersey, was charged with second-degree rape and first-degree attempted disseminating indecent materials to minors.
On Monday, Dec. 5, Szeliga pleaded guilty to his charges, and is set to be sentenced to three years in state prison, Walsh said.
"It’s a frightening reality that there are people lurking online who want to harm or exploit children," said Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New York who collaborated with Walsh in the ICAC operation. "Tracking down these individuals takes significant resources and close cooperation across jurisdictions, but these results show what can be achieved when we work together."
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