Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who is handling the case, stated that Cortese used the internet and a smart phone to persuade a 12 year old minor to engage in sexually explicit activity. This activity included engaging in sexually explicit chats, attempting to have the minor send sexually explicit images of themselves and to receive and distribute images of child pornography.
A family member of the minor notified law enforcement officials after seeing the contents of the 12-year-old’s cell phone which included chats between the minor and the defendant. Cortese was known to the minor as a family friend. The minor disclosed that the two started chatting directly with one another through Facebook and then through Kik and Instagram.
The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn and the Irondequoit Police Department, under the direction of Chief Richard Tantalo. The task force includes the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, the Rochester Police Department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 24, 2016, at 2:00 p.m., before Judge Wolford.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
