Rochester Man Sentenced For Enticement Of A Minor

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Jason Cortese, 34, of Greece, NY, who was convicted of enticement of a minor, was sentenced to 135 months in prison and 10 years supervised release by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who handled 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 sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam S. Cohen, 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.