Toronto man caught in U.S. online child predator sting sentenced to 10 years in prison
A Toronto man was sentenced to a decade in U.S. federal prison this week after travelling to Virginia last year to meet a girl he thought was 15 and had been trying to coerce into a sexual relationship, but who turned out to be an undercover police officer.
When arrested in June, Tommy Varesh, 54, “was carrying black lingerie and emergency contraception,” the state’s eastern district U.S. Attorney’s Office said Tuesday, the day he was sentenced for attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.
About five weeks earlier, Varesh had used an undisclosed online platform to connect with an individual identifying as a teenager who posted on a forum about “discreet sexual relationships in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area” and the potential to “link” in person, according to court documents obtained by National Post.
The girl was actually an officer working in Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) Child Exploitation Unit’s “Caught in the Web” operation targeting online predators using platforms to initiate inappropriate conversations with individuals they believed to be underage.
Using the online handle Knottyboix69 rather than his own name, Varesh indicated he was from New York and asked the alleged teen “if she was interested in meeting ‘older guys.’” Within the first 15 messages, he inquired about her virginity and asked questions about her previous sexual experiences within an hour of chatting.
The next day, when asked if he was serious about meeting, Varesh told the girl that he was — provided she could prove she was real. Court records, however, make it clear that Varesh believed and knew he was communicating with a minor.
During one exchange, he lamented that the supposed girl didn’t “live in a state where the age of consent is 16,” prompting the undercover to suggest they meet in one of those places.
“It means if I get caught with you before 18, 1 lose my job, my family and friends cuz I’ll be going to jail,” Varesh replied.
In messages over the days to come, he continued attempts to “establish trust and emotional connection,” but he also regularly insisted their relationship remain a secret from her mother and other adults in her life. He also talked about bringing lingerie upon his visit because “he wanted to make her ‘feel beautiful, sexy and special.’”
Varesh’s message became more graphic the following day, with sexual questions, descriptions of sexual acts and requests for nude video calls on a second unnamed messaging platform.
The undercover officer did engage in several video calls, but in such a way that Varesh complained he was unable to see anything. During one of such call, Varesh exposed himself.
As conversations of a sexual nature continued over the following days, Varesh started planning his visit and suggested they move to the second platform, where he again sent more illicit images of himself.
As the date for his arrival drew nearer, Varesh then instructed the alleged girl to continue their sexual conversations on the second platform, where messages disappear automatically, instead of the first platform where they made contact, so he could “protect himself.”
He also messaged her on the first platform to say “there will be no kissing or any type of sexual activity,” but said on the second platform that this was “just for show, in case that chat string leaks somehow or someone reads it.
“‘But you and I will know the truth which is we are going to have a lot of sex,” Varesh wrote.
Three days before his visit, another FCPD undercover detective posed as the alleged girl during a video call during which Varesh exposed his face for the first time.
After flying into Virginia on June 16, he was apprehended while walking to their supposed meeting place. According to arrest documents, Varesh immediately admitted to police that he was the user who’d contacted the alleged teenager, but insisted that if she was actually underage, “it would have been a platonic visit” and their relationship would have stayed that way “until she reached the age of consent.”
Varesh, who has been in custody since his arrest, still has more than nine years to serve after credit for time served. He was fined US$10,000 (CA$13,670) and will be subject to an immigration hearing after his release to determine whether he should be deported.
National Post has contacted the Eastern District of Virginia’s U.S. Attorney’s Office for comment and additional information.
Images of Tommy Varesh and 15 other men caught trying to initiate inappropriate conversations with alleged minors were released by Fairfax County Police Department in July last year.
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