A Long Island man accused of an online “sextortion” plot that victimized more than 30 women has pleaded guilty to stalking as a violent offense and scheme to defraud, authorities announced Friday.
Joseph Iorio, 21, faces up to five years in prison in the scheme to extort sexually explicit photos and videos from dozens of women in Suffolk County by threatening to share their nude photos, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said.
Authorities say that Iorio, a Holtsville resident and former Binghamton University student, was running a social media forum where users shared explicit images of identifiable young women -- victims in their teens and early 20s -- from Long Island.
One woman called the district attorney's office last summer to report him. She said she got a friend request and was sent racy photos of herself by Iorio. According to Sini, the woman was turned into a virtual sex slave for two years. She was forced to degrade herself or the sexually explicit photos of her would be widely disseminated, Sini said.
An attorney for Iorio told News 4 over the phone that his client is a typical young college student, a "decent kid from a good family." Iorio has admitted his guilt to the accusations and wants to apologize to the people he has hurt, his attorney said.
In a news briefing announcing Iorio’s guilty plea, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said it had implemented a new education initiative to prevent sextortion and revenge porn, while seeking justice for victims.
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