Member of International Child Exploitation Conspiracy Sentenced

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Karlo Hitosis, 32, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced today to 18 years in prison for participation in two websites that were operated for the purpose of coercing and enticing minors, as young as eight years old, to engage in sexually explicit conduct on web camera. Hitosis was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. 

Hitosis pleaded guilty on Oct. 30, 2015.  According to court records, members of the conspiracy to which these men belonged created false profiles on social networking sites, such as YouTube, which portrayed themselves as young teenagers.  They used these profiles to lure children to the websites they controlled. Once a child was on the websites, conspirators played pre-recorded videos of prior minor victims, often engaging in sexually explicit conduct, to make the new victims think that they were chatting with another minor.  Using these videos, conspirators coerced and enticed children to engage in sexually explicit activity on their own web cameras, which the website automatically recorded.  Based on their contribution to the success of website objectives, conspirators earned access to additional sexually exploitative videos of children.  During the FBI’s investigation, named Operation Subterfuge, an estimated 1,600 minors were lured to the two websites. More than 300 minor victims have been identified by U.S. law enforcement, and an additional 43 victims have been identified in Canada by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.  Law enforcement has disabled both websites.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; and Calvin Shivers, Section Chief, FBI Violent Crimes Against Children Section, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Doherty-McCormick and Trial Attorney Lauren Britsch of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) of the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted the case.  Trial Attorney Ravi Sinha of CEOS assisted with the prosecution.

The FBI’s Major Case Coordination Unit (MCCU) led the investigation with the assistance of Operation Rescue Me, and the FBI’s Digital Analysis and Research Center.  Other active partners in the investigation include the South Africa Police Service, Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses, Gauteng; Dutch Police Service Agency, KLP; Royal Canadian Mounted Police, National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre; and the Australian Federal Police, Child Protection Operations, Sydney.  Also contributing to the investigation and prosecution was the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. 

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-172; 1:15-cr-42.