N.J. Man Convicted Of Luring Girl, 15, To Office For Sex
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted a man Wednesday of luring a 15-year-old girl for sexual activity under the false pretense of offering her a job.
Gregory John Schaffer, 34, of Bayonne, New Jersey, was found guilty of enticing a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity and other counts following a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors said Schaffer used Craigslist to lure the girl from Brooklyn to his office in Jersey City, with a false promise of a job. Once the girl arrived, he convinced her to try on an assortment of provocative swimsuits, filmed her as she changed into them and repeatedly touched her breasts, buttocks and groin, prosecutors said.
Schaffer also tricked the girl into signing a contract that he claimed obligated her to have sex with him, prosecutors said. When the girl asked to be let out of the contract, Schaffer threatened to sue her family for breach of contract, prosecutors said.
Schaffer also told the girl he would change the contract if she had sex with him, prosecutors said. The girl did have sex with Schaffer, and he warned her not to tell anyone because the contract included a confidentiality agreement, prosecutors said.
"We are committed to protecting children and adolescents from online predators," Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. "The defendant created a fake document and spurious legal obligation in order to confuse and exploit a vulnerable young girl. Those who sexually exploit children will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
Schaffer was also accused by prosecutors in Hudson County, New Jersey, last year of sexually abusing a girl when she was between the ages of 8 and 9 and again when she was 11. Police at the time said Schaffer posed online as a talent agent, swim instructor, Navy Seal and fugitive-recovery agent using the name John Archambeault to meet the girls, prosecutors said.
Schaffer faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. He will be sentenced at an unspecified date by U.S. District Judge Allyne R. Ross.
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